Anne Rickard named Mayor of Bridport for second time

Mrs Rickard has taken up the role for the second time, having previously served as mayor in 2017.

Her husband David Rickard is also a Bridport town councillor and was also previously mayor in 2011/12.

Mrs Rickard will be the first mayor to oversee the new larger town council which is twice the size, after parish councils in Symondsbury and Bothenhampton were incorporated into the new Bridport Town Council boundary at the last election.

She was selected at a meeting of the full council on Monday, May 20.

Mrs Rickard said: "I am completely and utterly honoured to take up this position and will enjoy every moment promoting our wonderful town.

"It is genuinely a privilege to represent the people and organisations that make Bridport the best place to live, work, play, and learn.

"My hopes are that we can pull together this enlarged town that we are now.

"I hope the new councillors can bed in and enjoy their first year.

"I was ever so pleased to be asked to do it again."

Mrs Rickard said she was looking forward to a host of events in the town in the coming year.

She added: "I love the food festival and the hat festival, anything that brings the town together.

"There is such a mix of people here and that is what makes Bridport what it is and why it is such an amazing place to live."

Mrs Rickard also joked that her husband can be the "mayoress" for the next year.

Mrs Rickard’s election will be the 194th to be recorded on the roll of honour at Bridport Town Hall, and she is the first to preside over the recently expanded town council area.

Cllr Nigel Rawlings was also selected as Deputy Mayor.

Cllr Nigel Rawlings was elected as Deputy Mayor for the next year (Image: Bridport Town Council)

Cllr Ian Bark, himself a former Mayor of Bridport, becomes Council Leader whose role is to oversee the strategic direction of the town council. 

Cllr Ian Bark was named Leader of Bridport Town Council (Image: Bridport Town Council)

He said “I am humbled to have been chosen by my councillor colleagues to lead the work of the council, and will do my utmost to lead by example. 

"In five years’ time I want to look back on a cohesive town council that, by working together, has delivered for the whole of Bridport.”