COUNCILLOR Charlotte Williams has been elected as the new mayor of Barry.

The official ceremony took place at the Memorial Hall in Barry last night (Monday, May 9) with outgoing mayor Emma Pritchard handing the mantle to Councillor Williams. The deputy mayor for the forthcoming term will be Councillor Karl Kuhnell.

The two were elected with votes coming from every attending Labour councillor, with only the four Plaid members voting for their nominee Councillor Nic Hodges.

Plaid's Steffan Wiliam and Shirley Hodges had earlier made pleas to the Labour group to once again reconsider their 34 year run of refraining from electing any non-Labour members for the mayoral role.

Councillor Williams was formally nominated for the role by Councillor Anthony Powell.

He said: "It is my privilege and honour to move the nomination of Charlotte Williams to become mayor of Barry Town Council.

"We know that Charlotte will be a safe pair of hands because of how she has assisted the mayor over the last year."

In her acceptance speech, Cllr Williams said: "I was born and bred in Barry and have no intention of ever leaving.

"I feel very lucky to be living here in the town of Barry, this is why being mayor is so important to me. I would like to give something back to Barry and the people here."

Cllr Williams announced that this year she will be supporting the Down Syndrome Association, the Life After Stroke Association and Breast Cancer Now as her chosen charities.

Outgoing mayor Emma Prichard also used the meeting to hand out her mayor's community awards to adult recipient Gay Fifield, youth winner Eleri Borges and special mention Louis Davies.

All three were awarded for their services to the community of Barry through volunteering and participation in local groups and charities.