hertscouncillors.org Sherma Batson

Sherma Batson

Welcome to the webpages of Sherma Batson, Labour Councillor

Sherma Batson is 48 years old, married, with a daughter at university.

She grew up in Stevenage, 30 miles north of London and attended Stevenage Girls’ Grammar School. After some years in the Civil Service, she took a course in Business Studies at Stevenage College and then embarked on several years working in the commercial and statutory sectors. Taking a break, she found herself drawn to community work and spent some time running a youth and community facility in North London.

In the 1980s, Sherma co-founded Munirah African Women’s Theatre Company and performed extensively in the United Kingdom and Europe. During that time, she wrote productions, directed, performed and toured with choreopoetry and full length plays.

Moving back to Stevenage in the early nineties and looking for a change, she joined British Aerospace Communications and progressed through Marketing to head the Public Relations department, supporting the Managing Director and travelling extensively in Europe.

Increasingly, Sherma found that her strength lay in her interpersonal skills and concern for people rather than profit and she concentrated upon working in the local community. In 1996, she began to take a keen interest in local politics and became an active member of the Labour party, campaigning on behalf of the parliamentary candidate and local councillors.

Sherma is Vice-Chair of both Stevenage District Labour Party and Stevenage Constituency Labour Party. She was Chair of Stevenage World Forum for Ethnic Communities for four years, continues to be involved as Vice-Chair, and produces the successful annual Celebrate multicultural showcase. She has served on the Governing Body of Camps Hill Community Primary School, chaired mentoring organisation, Positive Strides, is current Chair of Fusion Community Theatre Arts and a Board Member of Stevenage Leisure Limited.