A new Mayor of Kenilworth was unanimously elected at last night's (May 4) annual meeting of the town council.

Green Party Councillor Peter Jones was unanimously approved by fellow councillors. Cllr Jones, 73, was first elected to Kenilworth Town Council in 2019 and has served as deputy mayor for the past 12 months.

Cllr John Cooke proposed Cllr Jones as the new mayor saying: "I can confirm that he is a worthy candidate to become first citizen of our town."

He added: "He definitely does not take himself too seriously, which is a prize asset as far as I can see. I am sure that both he and Jenny [his wife] will serve both this council and the people of Kenilworth extremely well."

Upon accepting his appointment Cllr Jones said: "I will thank you for that tremendous vote of confidence and faith that you have put in me. You do realise that you have put the joker in charge of the orchestra!"

Deputy mayor

Cllr Samantha Cooke was also elected as Deputy Mayor of Kenilworth at last night's meeting.

Cllr Cooke, a Liberal Democrat and organiser of the inaugural Kenilworth Naturewatch week, was proposed by Cllr John Dearing.

Cllr John Dearing said: "Her commitment to all of these local community groups will hold you in great stead for when you have got to perform in the roll of deputy mayor. So best of luck for the coming year."

Having also been unanimously elected to office, Cllr Cooke said: "I would just like to say thank you and to say what a privilege it is to be deputy mayor for the upcoming year. I have learnt so much from everyone, from town councillors and the people of Kenilworth.

"I have loved seeing people come together as a community over the past year, and I hope that as I go forward as deputy I can be of assistance to Peter and continue working on all of the projects that we have started."

Look out for our exclusive interview with Cllr Jones this coming weekend