Cllr Frances Stainton has been elected the new Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham.

Cllr Stainton, who was elected at the council Annual General Meeting on Wednesday May 29 succeeds Cllr Belinda Donovan in the role, with Cllr Adronie Alford serving as her deputy mayor.

Cllr Stainton is no stranger to the Mayoral chains, having aleady served as Mayor in 2011-12.

Cllr Stainton first became a councillor in 1990 and during her council career has served first as chief whip, cabinet member for regeneration and cabinet member for parks, culture and heritage.

Just like two years ago, Cllr Stainton’s chosen mayoral charity is Walking With The Wounded, which funds the re-training and re-education of wounded servicemen and women with the aim of helping them find long term employment after they have left the Armed Forces.

During that previous year, she raised £50,126 for Walking With The Wounded through a series of mayoral events including a gala dinner at Chelsea Football Club, the London Mayor’s Parade and dedicated bucket collections across the borough.

To help locally, she has also chosen three charities to support. She says: " Albert and Friends Instant Circus echoes Walking With The Wounded, working with children facing disadvantages who learn that they too can achieve what others do not. They find a sense of family in the Circus too.

" Secondly the Care Leavers from H&F’s Children in Care need the help most people would find from a loving family which gets them on the right path when no longer 'Looked After'. Finally, the Daisy Trust helps local people of all sorts, often filling important voids in people’s lives."

Speaking after last night’s AGM about the year ahead and her charity, Cllr Stainton said: " I appreciate the honour you do me with this second term and I shall serve our dear borough with all the commitment I deeply feel. This helped by my Mayoress and Consorts who interestingly reflect the multinational, multiculture and multifaith make up of H&F.

" My Mayoress is Austrailian Church of England. My Consort Comte Edouard de Guitaut is a French Roman Catholic and Prince Mohsin is an Indian Muslim, while I am English with a dash of Celtic and French, Church of England but believing in the common thread of truth running through all faiths."

Cllr Stainton oversaw the regeneration of Fulham Palace where she also held an exhibition of the borough’s treasures past and present. She has also sent some of the finest pieces from the Cecil French bequest of pre-Raphaelite paintings to exhibitions around the world.

As cabinet member for culture and heritage she was instrumental in bringing Lottery Heritage funding to the borough for the much-wanted restoration of Bishops Park, Fulham Palace grounds and the ancient moat.

Cllr Stainton has exhibited her own oil paintings in Paris, London and Rome. Her late husband was Suffolk MP, Keith Stainton.

Cllr Stainton’s consorts are Mayoress Pauline Lyle-Smith, Consort Comte Edouard de Guitaut and Consort Prince Mohsin Ali -Khan.

 

May 30, 2013