The Mayor's Office
The Mayor and Mayoress
The Mayor for this year is Councillor Brian Newman. His Mayoress is his wife, Mrs Lynne Newman.
Mayor Making Speech
At the Full Council meeting on 18 May 2023, the Mayor made this Mayor Making speech:
Civic guests, fellow Councillors, officers of the Council, family and friends:
Welcome to you all and thank you for joining me on this special day.
May I start by expressing my personal thanks to the retiring Mayor, Councillor Yasser Iqbal, who has had a very successful year. We have worked together very well.
Thank you to Councillors David Whipp, Asjad Mahmood and Nadeem Ahmed who kindly moved, seconded and supported the motion to install me as The Mayor of Pendle.
I would also like to pay tribute to Ken Hartley, a great friend and colleague who sadly passed away last week. A former Mayor and Councillor, he will be very sadly missed.
I would also like pay tribute to the late John David, Freeman of the Borough and a former Leader of the Council, as well as a long-standing Councillor. As a former Mayor, with his wife Judith as his Mayoress, they were wonderful ambassadors for Pendle. John was a mentor and a guide to me and encouraged me to become a Councillor in the first place.
Can I also say a special thank you to my colleagues in The Liberal Democrat Group for their support.
Thank you in anticipation to the new Deputies.
I know I will be able to rely on my experienced Mayoral team, Fiona, my Secretary, and Trish, my Attendant, to guide us through the year.
Taking on the role of First Citizen of Pendle fills me with great excitement and pride. I am looking forward to highlighting organisations which are a doing a fantastic job for the Pendle community.
I was born and brought up in Pendle. I started my education at Bradshaw Street Primary School and then went on to Percy Street and Bentley Street Schools, who joined forces while I was there. Later on I started my working life as a milkman in Nelson, Barrowford and Fence. I went on to own my own garage at Glen Way in Brierfield. I later moved to Fence and bought a garage there and have now lived there for 30 years. I have a hobby and interest in raising sheep.
I would like to say a big thank you to my wife, Lynne, for all her support and I am delighted that she has agreed to be my Mayoress. I know we will have a very good year.
This year The Mayoress’ Charity Appeal Fund will be supporting:
- The Autistic Society
- Pendle and Rossendale Mountain Rescue
- Curry On The Street
- Youth organisations involved in sport in Pendle.
Part of the Mayor’s duties is to raise awareness of the chosen charities and raise money and I would like to start with myself, and I am announcing today that I will be donating £1,000 to each of our chosen charities from my mayor’s allowance. I hope my donations will help to raise awareness, promote volunteering and raise charity funds.
The Mayoress and I look forward to a very varied and constructive year of office. I am committed to engaging the people of Pendle in the work of Pendle Council and the Office of Mayor.
Thank you.