'I will do this job the best I can and won’t let you down' says Tamworth mayor

Councillor Oates was unanimously voted to the role at the Annual Council meeting held at Tamworth Assembly Rooms on Thursday – the first in-person council meeting in more than 12 months.

Outgoing Mayor, councillor Rosemary Claymore, spoke about her ‘most unusual’ yet incredibly rewarding year as the town’s first citizen.

“This year has probably been the most unusual year for any mayor to serve," she said.

"But what I can say is that it has been a complete honour and a privilege to be Mayor of Tamworth during this difficult period in all our lives.

"It is a year that none of us will ever forget.

“On that note, I would like to send my thoughts and condolences to the families and friends who have sadly lost loved ones during the past year and to convey my sadness over the amount of people who have lost their lives to Covid 19 and for the people who are still suffering with long Covid.

“Whilst I haven’t been able to attend as many functions as I would have liked, each and every one of them I did attend was memorable and again it has been an honour for me to do so.

“During the year I have met some fantastic people who have volunteered tirelessly to work to help others less fortunate than themselves.

"I have been inspired by all the generous people in Tamworth who give up their time, week in week out, helping others.

“There are so many people that I may not have met if things had been different. I was amazed by the amount of individual people that took it upon themselves to do something for others."

Councillor Oates is a Trinity ward councillor and first became a councillor in 2003 and has been on the council since 2014 in his current stint.

He said: “The unanimous vote is incredible, I’m really pleased and I thank everyone for their kind words. I will do this job the best I can and hopefully I won’t let you down.