THE mayor and deputy mayor for the city of Carlisle for the next year have been chosen.
The decision was taken at Cumberland Council's annual meeting of the charter trustees of the city of Carlisle at the city's Civic Centre last night (Wednesday, May 22).
Members chose Councillor Chris Southward (Denton Holme, Labour) to be the next mayor for the city and Cllr Jeanette Whalen (Yewdale, Labour) to be his deputy.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Southward said he was very pleased to have been chosen and said it was an honour.
He said he was looking forward to taking up the role and added: "I will get to meet a lot of people, I have thoroughly enjoyed the times I deputised for Abdul last year and I am looking forward to far more of that."
He was nominated by Cllr Anne Quilter (Morton, Labour) who said that he was born in the city and had previously served on three ruling executive committees – on Carlisle city, Cumbria county and Cumberland councils. She added: "I am sure he will be an excellent mayor of Carlisle."
After his successful selection, Cllr Southward paid tribute to the outgoing mayor, councillor Abdul Harid (Belle Vue, Labour), who he described as the "smiling mayor of Carlisle".
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Harid said that his year had been fantastic and added: "I met so many people from different professions, different backgrounds, people with disabilities and people in voluntary service within the community and usually you don't see these people because they work behind the scenes."
He said it was nice to have been able to promote the city of Carlisle and he had travelled across the country during that time.
Cllr Harid said it had been a full-time commitment but added: "Although I was a mayor I was still committed to my ward work, the issues I was raising in the ward."
He said it had been a challenging year and added: “However, I enjoyed it throughout. I enjoyed meeting people."
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