New mayor for Cheshire East

Cheshire East Council has elected its new mayor for the borough.

Councillor Judy Snowball, who represents Broken Cross and Upton, in Macclesfield, was handed the chain of office by outgoing mayor Councillor David Edwardes as part of the ceremony in the Tenants Hall at Tatton Park, Knutsford.

She becomes the 17th mayor of Cheshire East. Councillor Rob Moreton, who represents Congleton East, was elected to serve as deputy mayor.

The ceremony, on Wednesday 13 May, was attended by members of the council and several town mayors from around the borough. Cllr Snowball s mayoralty was proposed by Cllr Ken Edwards and seconded by Cllr John Place.

Cllr Snowball said: I would like to thank fellow members for the confidence they have placed in me by electing me to this role today.

This year is likely to be an exciting year in many ways we are changing our governance model from a committee system to a cabinet one, we are seeing the arrival of devolution with the Combined Authority and we are in an election year (municipal).

There are great challenges in this coming year for us all and great opportunities and I see the mayoral role as one of providing stability a constant in this evolving landscape. I hope in this way to live up to the trust placed in me by my colleague councillors.

She also announced that a Mayor s Cadet scheme would be launched later this year, in collaboration with the council s Armed Forces champion Cllr Anthony Harrison.

Cllr Snowball was first elected to the council as a Labour and Co-Operative member in 2023. As well as serving as vice-chair of the environment and communities committee in 2023-24, she sat on the council s audit and governance committee, and northern planning committee as well as the Cheshire East Mental Health Partnership Board and the Safer Cheshire East Partnership. She was also the chair of the Cheshire Police and Crime Panel.

Her nominated mayoral charities are Cardiac Risk in the Young, Her-Place Charitable Trust, which supports the wellbeing of women and girls, and Keyring, which supports vulnerable adults in the criminal justice system.