At the Annual Meeting held on Tuesday 21^st May 2024, Councillor Nasima Begum was elected as the Mayor of Lowestoft Town Council for the Municipal Year 2024/2025. Councillor Elise Youngman was appointed as Deputy Mayor.

At the start of the meeting, the outgoing Mayor Cllr Sonia Barker reflected on the past year, saying “it has been a huge privilege and honour to serve the people of Lowestoft as your Mayor over the past 12 months”.

Cllr Sonia Barker reflected on the importance of the role of the Mayor in championing the local community and chairing the council, and on the large projects that have been delivered during her tenure such as the raising of funds for the Town Hall regeneration project, the free-to-access Bulky Waste collection scheme and the Lowestoft’s first Pride.  Cllr Sonia Barker ended her speech by thanking her fellow councillors and all the staff at Lowestoft Town Council.

During the meeting, Cllr Nasima Begum was handed the Mayoral Chain.  On accepting the role of Mayor of Lowestoft, Cllr Nasima Begum said, “it is the honour of my life to be elected as Mayor of Lowestoft Town Council for this civic year.  I have been privileged to have been Deputy Mayor for the past three years.  I would like to thank everyone who has supported and encouraged me.  I have always thought that a grassroots body like the Town Council should reflect the society it represents, so it is important to have councillors of all ages and backgrounds.  As a young councillor, a woman, a mum and someone from an ethnic and religious minority I will try to use my time as Mayor to support the Town Council in working on behalf of everyone in Lowestoft, and to show that young, working parents and other people who do not normally engage with local government can not only engage with it but can be part of it themselves.  Thank you to my fellow councillors for putting your faith in me.  I hope, with your help, I can do a good job.”

On being appointed as Deputy Mayor, Cllr Elise Youngman said, “I would like to formally accept the role of Deputy Mayor and thank everyone who voted for me.  I am looking forward to working with the new Mayor of Lowestoft and all the other councillors and staff at Lowestoft Town Council during the next civic year, especially with a lot of up-and-coming projects and events taking place”.

The elected chairs for the following committees are: Assets, Inclusion and Development Committee, Councillor Robert Breakspear; Climate and Ecological Emergency Committee, Councillor Paul Page; Finance and Governance Committee, Councillor Andy Pearce; Personnel Committee, Councillor Christian Newsome; and Planning Committee, Councillor Jen Jones.  The Marina Theatre Project Committee and Town Hall Project Committee are both chaired by the Mayor of Lowestoft, Cllr Nasima Begum.

The Full Council will next meet on Thursday 30^th May at 6:30pm at Hamilton House.