Cllr Sam Cooke has been elected as the new Mayor of Kenilworth by Kenilworth Town Council.

The Liberal Democrat councillor was unveiled as the new mayor during the Annual Meeting of the Town Council at Kenilworth Castle last week.

Having served as deputy to the outgoing mayor Cllr Peter Jones for the past year, Cllr Cooke will take over for the next twelve months, with her first act in office set to be the unveiling of a Covid-19 memorial statue in the town centre on Tuesday.

Speaking after the ceremony she said: "I don't think it has quite sunk in yet.

"It was weird last Thursday night being the centre of attention - I don't think it will really sink in properly until my first event.

Adding: "Everyone was so lovely and so kind."

Cllr Cooke's parents also surprised her by travelling to Kenilworth for the ceremony.

"I was really nervous beforehand," she said.

"My parents came up from Surrey, but they didn't tell me they were coming up, so I was walking through the car park as they arrived.

"It was a bit nerve wracking – I think the last time I stood and spoke to an audience when my parents were there was in a school play!"

Cllr Cooke and fiance Tom at last week's Mayor Making at the castle (image by James Gray)

Now a senior lecturer in International Relations and Politics at the University of Gloucestershire, Cllr Cooke first got involved in local politics when living in Surrey herself.

She first moved to Warwickshire in 2017 and was then elected to Kenilworth Town Council in 2019 to represent St John's Ward.

For the upcoming year she has chosen Warwickshire Pride and Compassionate Kenilworth as her mayoral charities – the third mayor in a row to choose the latter.

"I am in absolute awe of the people from both charities," she said.

"Compassionate Kenilworth obviously came out of the Covid-19 Support Group and the work they did during the lockdowns was invaluable and they have found this gap which they are still filling for vulnerable people in the community which is really important.

"Pride is a charity that speaks to me and I would really like to get involved in supporting people. The work they do is so important, and both charities there should be more of what they do."

Green Party councillor Cllr Pippa Austin was elected as Deputy Mayor of Kenilworth.