COUNCILLOR Mark Lithgow has been elected as the new Mayor of Wellington to serve the town for the 2021-22 municipal year.

He was elected unopposed during Wellington Town Council’s annual meeting on Tuesday having previously served as Deputy Mayor.

Cllr Lithgow, who joined the council in 2017, congratulated the outgoing Mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd, on her work over the past two years and said she had been a ‘stalwart’ for the council.

Cllr Andrew Govier congratulated the new Mayor on his appointment. “You have made a real impact since joining the council,” he told Cllr Lithgow.

Cllr Govier also thanked the outgoing Mayor for all her efforts – especially over the past 12 months which he described as a ‘miserable year’ due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and lockdowns.

Cllr John Thorne said he hoped that once the nation is out of lockdown the Mayoral position will be able to resume normality and represent the town ‘more widely’.

The meeting was held via Zoom video conferencing technology and Cllr Vivienne Stock-Williams was elected as the new Deputy Mayor.

“We have a challenging 12 months ahead but I’m always looking forward to the opportunities within those challenges,” she said.