First term councillor handed chains of office as new Mayor of Sunderland

Councillor Alison Smith was selected as mayor for 2022/23 at Wednesday’s annual meeting of Sunderland City Council, to be supported by her husband and consort David Smith.

The representative for Wearside’s Redhill ward took over the ceremonial chains from Councillor Harry Trueman, who has been supported by his wife, mayoress and fellow city councillor Dorothy Trueman over the past 12 months.

Dorothy was also sworn in as the new deputy mayor for 2022/23 at the annual meeting, with her husband taking the role of deputy consort.

Cllr Smith said she has enjoyed meeting some “wonderful community groups and organisations” over the past year as deputy mayor, despite the impact of Covid-19, and is looking forward to the year ahead.

She said: “The civic role of the mayoral office encompasses everything from raising ceremonial flags to raising money for charity, and I will continue to work hard with our regional, national and international partners to raise the profile of Sunderland wherever we can.

“During my term of office as mayor I’m particularly keen to involve even more local businesses and community groups in that continuing process, and I’m looking forward to meeting as many people and organisations as I can.”

The mother of four and grandmother to seven, who previously worked as a home economics advisor and as a city council HR officer for more than 20 years, was first elected to the council in May 2021.

Her mayoral charities for her year in office are Hope4All, a food, clothes and toy project based in Pennywell, Friends of Bunnyhill and Downhill Community Pond and Garden.

Cllr Smith was voted in as mayor ahead of long-serving Conservative councillor Peter Wood, who was put forward by his group leader Cllr Antony Mullen.

Cllr Mullen pointed to how this year marks 55 years since Cllr Wood was first elected, and this will be his last on the council.

He also received the support of Liberal Democrats, with group leader Cllr Niall Hodson stating the civic role should be “non-partisan”, pointing to how it has always been held by Labour councillors under the council’s current guise.

In one of her first acts in the role, Cllr Smith paid tribute to the support of outgoing mayor Cllr Harry Trueman, and his wife Dorothy.

The pair managed to raise more than £12,000 during the past year for mayoral charities The Special Lioness and Hug in a Bag, despite having the number of events they could attend slashed by Covid-19.

Outgoing mayor Cllr Trueman said: “Myself and the mayoress both look back on this past year with fond memories and some great highlights.

“One of my greatest honours was to represent the city as mayor on Remembrance Day. It’s something we will always remember.

“Another thing which we will always be tremendously grateful for is the generosity of the people in Sunderland.”

He wished the new mayor and her consort well for the coming year, adding they “represented the city with humour, dignity and grace” in the past 12 months as deputy.