Cllr Richard Kingstone is Tamworth’s New Mayor

Cllr Richard Kingstone, Conservative councillor for Mercian ward, is the new Mayor of Tamworth.

At Thursday night’s meeting of the Full Council held in Tamworth’s historic Town Hall, Cllr Kingstone was unanimously voted into the prestigious role. Cllr Kingstone was first voted onto the Borough Council in 2012.

Prior to the vote fellow Mercian ward councillor Andrew James said, “I am pleased to propose Cllr Kingstone for the prestigious role of Mayor of Tamworth.  I have known Cllr Kingstone for several years and worked with him in Mercian ward prior to my own election to the council in 2011.

“Not only do we both represent Mercian ward, we also both grew up in Mercian ward as near neighbours at either ends of Riverside.  I am sure that Cllr Kingstone’s years as both a teacher and magistrate will have proved to be the perfect training ground for his year ahead chairing Full Council meetings; I just hope he has no need to order detention for members or put on his black hat and send any of us down.”

After the vote Cllr Kingstone said, “It is a great honour to take on the role of Mayor and I promised the people of Tamworth that I will do my upmost to serve them well over the next year.  Each Mayor always puts his or her own spin on the role and I intend to be no exception.  Tamworth will see a very different Mayor to those that have gone before.

“I will be using the role to not only highlight and promote our amazing town but to help raise the aspirations of our young people and troubled families.  I want them to be proud of themselves and their town and will use the role of Mayor to do just that.”

Cllr Kingstone will be joined by Cllr Maureen Gant, Conservative councillor for Spital ward, who was unanimously voted Deputy Mayor for the coming year.