First elected to Stoke-on-Trent City Council in 2010, Abi has served her beloved city in both administration and opposition. From 2015 until 2023 as deputy leader and then leader, Abi led numerous landmark projects that have transformed the face of Stoke-on-Trent, including the award winning Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone, the city’s shortlisted bid to be City of Culture 2021, and Stoke-on-Trent’s nationally acclaimed Fostering Friendly City campaign, which created the greatest concentration of fostering friendly employers in the country.
Alongside securing the largest ever Levelling Up Fund allocation for any single place, bringing over £100m of government investment to the city, and the second largest relocation of civil service jobs from Whitehall, Abi’s high profile leadership shone a spotlight on how place-based policy-making led by local leaders could influence across government. Abi has given evidence to select committees, led No 10 cross governmental round tables, and been credited with influencing national policymaking from asylum and housing, to culture and devolution.
Keen to share her experiences, Abi was initially a member of the Local Government Association (LGA) City Regions Board from 2017 rising to become Vice Chair, before becoming chair of the LGA Improvement and Innovation Board in 2022. Over the next three years, she was a high profile advocate for local government, engaging with both Conservative and Labour governments on local government assurance whilst also significant change in the LGA's own sector-led improvement, as well as being an active member peer working predominantly with challenged local authorities. In addition, Abi was elected deputy leader of the LGA Conservative Group and a Deputy Chairman of the LGA.
Summer 2024 saw Abi confirmed as a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government commissioner, working in the London Borough of Croydon, one of just 4 politicians ever appointed to this role, and the only active Conservative politician.
Abi received an OBE in the 2024 King's New Year Honours for services to local government. She is a Non-Executive Director at Homes England, a trustee of think tank Localis, and local children's mental health charity Bear Force. She was awarded an honorary doctorate of the University of Staffordshire in July 2025.