New Mayors appointed across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Three new Mayors have recently been appointed across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Cllr Peter Miles has been appointed to the position in Poole along with his Mayoress, Katie Cousins (pictured above).

Cllr Jo Clements was elected Deputy Mayor of Poole and Cllr Mark Howell was elected Sheriff of Poole.

Mr Miles told Bournemouth One he’s really pleased to be offered the Mayor position: “It’s a great honour, I was born in Poole so it means an awful lot to me and both Katie and I really want to promote Poole for the next year. It’s a beautiful town and we should cherish it.”

In Christchurch, Councillor Paul Hilliard was appointed during the Annual Mayor Making Ceremony held on Thursday 29th May 2024.

The event, marked by tradition and community spirit, saw Hilliard take over the mayoral responsibilities from his predecessor, Cllr Vivienne Charrett.

“It is an honour and privilege to be granted the role of Mayor of Christchurch,” Cllr Hilliard remarked during his acceptance speech.

Born and raised in the nearby Barton on Sea, he currently resides on the Hoburne Farm estate with his wife Helen and their sons, Sean and Luke.

And in Bournemouth, Labour councillor for Boscombe East and Pokesdown George Farquhar was officially made Mayor of Bournemouth during a ceremony last month, replacing Cllr Anne Filer who became deputy mayor.

He’s the 110th Mayor of Bournemouth and tells us he’s loving the role so far: “It’s absolutely fabulous, it plays to my strengths as I love meeting people and engaging with Bournemouth people, and having a chit chat!”

Cllr George was previously mayor in 2019.

The position of Mayor is a civic non-political role and therefore not impacted by any pre-election guidance in the way some other communications on Council business are.