Queen Edith’s councillor George Pippas is the new Mayor of Cambridge, following a unanimous vote by city councillors at The Cambridge Guildhall on Thursday. He was proposed by Cllr Rod Cantrill and seconded by Cllr Peter Sarris. He takes over the role from Cllr Jeremy Benstead, who represented the city over the past year.

George is the first mayor from Queen Edith’s for over 25 years, and the latest in a long procession of mayors dating from 1207, when King John gave Cambridge a charter allowing us to appoint a mayor. George has served as a Queen Edith’s city councillor since 2011, having grown up in Cyprus and served in the army before embarking on a career in electronics. He now runs a hospitality business in the south of the city.

Everyone’s contribution matters.

As well as representing the city and being a focal point of the community, the Mayor has a role in promoting the city and forging international links. George set the tone of his mayoralty by inviting representatives from Cambridge’s various faith and community groups to the mayor-making event, and in his speech he spoke of the importance of internationalism to Cambridge, and how everyone contributes to the city and its life.

It is customary for Mayors of Cambridge to champion two charities for their years of office. George has chosen The Sick Children’s Trust based at Addenbrooke’s, and Centre 33.

Our new Mayor’s first engagement will be to lead the civic party to the annual preaching of the Mott Sermon tomorrow, which will this year be at All Saints’ Church, Jesus Lane. The service marks the beginning of the new mayoral year. George will be accompanied by the new deputy mayor, Cllr Nigel Gawthrope, and the four city bailiffs.

*When it was another George, Cllr George Reid. For a history of all the mayors since 1935 see https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/cambridge-mayors.pdf.

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