Interview: Meet the Somerset councillor who used to be a professional actor
You may well have seen Taunton councillor Giuseppe Fraschini on TV without realising it, writes Phil Hill.
In his younger days he was a budding actor based in London, appearing in adverts and voiceovers for big companies such as Paddy Power, McDonald's, Tassimo, and Asda.
He appeared in several London stage productions, including Snow White in Leicester Square, and took part in the industrial revolution sketch at the 2012 London Olympics.
Zeppi, as he is informally known, was born in Switzerland to his English mother and Italian father.
He recalled: "We lived in the Swiss mountains, but by the time I was one, my mum became homesick.
"My granddad, who was Somerset's chief fire officer, travelled to pick us up in a caravan."
After being educated at Creech St Michael Primary School, Heathfield School, and the former SCAT, he studied performing arts at Bath Spa University, where he caught the acting bug and moved to the capital for five years after graduating.
"I moved back to Taunton in 2015," Zeppi said.
"I got elected as a Conservative to Somerset County Council for North Taunton in 2017, despite being late to the running just six weeks before.
"I campaigned really hard, got to know all the local issues, and won by 45 votes.
"I hadn't expected to win, but if you fight to fix what really matters to residents, they tend to put their trust in you.
"I loved the role and gave up a lot to do it.
"I was a junior cabinet member for adult social care.
"I loved helping people, getting extra care packages for them during the pandemic.
"But, when the new Somerset Council was setting up in 2022, I lost by approximately 200 votes.
"It was hard to lose.
"People were saying they loved my work for the area but couldn't vote for me because of Partygate, which I understood even if I wasn't involved with that."
When the new 20-member Taunton Town Council was created in 2023, Zeppi was elected to represent Maidenbrook.
The other 19 councillors are all Liberal Democrats.
He added: "That's not great, but it would have been horrific if they'd all been Lib Dems and there was no opposition to hold them to account.
"It's very frustrating and difficult at times, although I'm very vocal if I'm not happy with something.
"My hope for the next town council election is that there are more voices for whichever political parties.
"For the moment, I'm trying to fight for Maidenbrook."
Zeppi says the original plan was for the council to cover the unparished area - mainly around the town centre that did not previously have its own parish council.
He accuses the Lib Dems of "completely engineering it" to include the whole town and new estates on the outskirts.
"A consultation in Maidenbrook showed approximately 90 per cent wanted to remain as part of Cheddon Fitzpaine Parish Council and there was a lot of anger when that was ignored," said Zeppi.
"We had a great community under Cheddon Fitzpaine Parish Council and now the council tax precept has risen 793 per cent in just three years."
He proudly claims he won a battle in the first town council meeting by successfully challenging plans for a £70,000 electric van for the town warden.
"There were few details and I discovered it didn't have enough power to carry or pull anything," added Zeppi.
"We all want to save the planet, but you need the infrastructure to do it.
"The council ended up buying a hybrid van for £35,000.
"There have been policies put forward that I've said just don't stack up, but I will support policies that do.
"One of the first things I put forward was that the meetings should be webcast as we need to be open and transparent."
Zeppi spends much of his spare time with his six-year-old son Federico and running a Sunday league football team in Maidenbrook that was set up to get young dads active and socialising.
He was for a time marketing director with Taunton Town Football Club and had his own fire protection business, which he relinquished to concentrate on his council work.
When asked about his plans for the future, he said: "If the opportunity were to ever arise one day, I would love to support and represent my home town as MP for Taunton and Wellington."
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