At the Area AGM in November 2007, Edward Leigh was elected as our new Honorary Area President. He succeeds Len Wilson who took over from the late Brett Collier. Mr Leigh is the Member of Parliament (Conservative) for the Gainsborough constituency, which covers a largely rural area of the county and includes Caistor and Market Rasen.

He was nominated for this post because of his work to promote a private member’s bill which became the Rights Of Way Act 1990, an important piece of legislation particularly for lowland areas of the UK whose paths suffer from the seasonal problems of ploughing & cropping and lack of reinstatement. During drafting of the Parliamentary Bill we lobbied him and he joined Brett Collier, Stan Knafler and others to walk local paths to see at first hand the conditions we had to encounter. This bill led directly to improvements in the condition of paths.
He keenly accepted our invitation and attended the November 2007 AGM. This is an honorary role and it is always useful to have a MP as Area President. Several MPs are already associated with other RA Areas and Groups.
As a registered charity, the RA cannot have a party political bias but our campaigning requires lobbying of the Government and the opposition parties in order to put forward our objectives and protect the interests of the walking public.
He is well known to speak his mind and was the Chairman of the high profile Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee whilst the Consevative party was in opposition.Consequently he was then  frequently seen  speaking in the House of Commons and quoted in the press on an almost weekly basis. He lives in the Lincolnshire Wolds and enjoys walking paths around his locality.
Accepting this position Edward told members:“ I feel honoured to have been nominated for this role and readily accept. I have been impressed by the Ramblers’ Association in achieving so much on behalf of the public in accessing the countryside ”