Election Of Wrexham’s New Mayor At ‘Mayor-Making’ Ceremony

The election of Wrexham’s new Mayor is set to take place at a Mayor-Making Ceremony next week.

Despite calls to axe the Mayoral position, Current Deputy Mayor, Councillor T. Alan Edwards will take over from Councillor I. David Bithell at a formal ceremony in the Guildhall on Tuesday.

Councillor Barbara Roxburgh will replace Cllr Edwards as Deputy Mayor.

The Mayors of Wrexham are elected from the members of the Council at its Annual Meeting and serve a term of one year, although in past years some Mayors have served in the post for two or more years. It is generally accepted that the current year’s Deputy Mayor becomes the following year’s Mayor.

It is believed that on average the Mayor and Mayoress will attend around 400 events in a year

The election of the new Mayor will take place the evening before the Full Council meeting, where councillors will meet to discuss webcasting, members of the Executive Board and the transfer of community facilities.

In recent months the role of a Mayor in the current economical climate is one that has been subject to a great deal of debate.

Last October, an FOI (Freedom of Information Request) revealed that the Mayor costs taxpayers £135,000 a year. This includes nearly £44,000 spent on transport and almost £10,000 spent on flowers.

In an email seen by Wrexham.com last year, a breakdown of the yearly costs for running Mayoral cars, drivers and flowers were revealed. You can read the full list of costs in our report here.

At February’s Full Council it was proposed that the Mayoral budget was reduced by £50,000 to help make savings, however the recommendation was voted against by Councillors.

In Tuesday’s Executive Board meeting, Cllr David A. Bithell stating that he that he would like to see a debate this year on the Mayor.

Speaking about the future of the Mayor, Cllr King said: “The proposed reduction in Mayoral costs will be addressed in a future budget report.

What are your thoughts on the role of the Mayor? You can take part in the debate on our forums here…