The Mayor of Bridgwater for 2023-24 is Cllr Mick Lerry.  Mick is a councillor for the Victoria Ward in Bridgwater and has previously served as a Sedgemoor District Councillor where he was the leader of the Labour group. Mick, originally from Wales, moved to Bridgwater in 1976 where he was a teacher at Blake School and in later years worked for the NUT (National Union of Teachers). As a child he moved a lot and attended 15 different schools, leaving school at 15 and starting work. He retrained as a teacher at Coleg Harlech and became a trades unionist. He was Labour candidate for the parliamentary seat in 2015. At his inaugural meeting Mick said “In the words of Nye Bevan the purpose of power is to give it away. It was Nye Bevan who gave us the National Health Service.”

The deputy Mayor for 2023-24 will be Cllr Jacqui Solomon (Eastover, Labour)For information about the role of Mayor of Bridgwater click here.

PAST MAYORS OF BRIDGWATER

From 1465 until 1972 Bridgwater’s Mayors were seen as the Leader of the Town Council. But from 1973 Bridgwater became part of Sedgemoor District Council and the role of councillor elected in Bridgwater was reduced to simply ‘Charter Trustee’ whose limited powers amounted to electing one of them to be Mayor for the incoming year. For many years an arrangement between Labour and the Tories to share the role of Mayor was in place, probably reflecting the power of the new Tory controlled Sedgemoor  over Labour Bridgwater. But then in 1995 with the collapse of Tory power across the country Labour regained confidence and wrested back control of the Town Mayoralty with only one Tory (Philip Smeed) being invited to the role in 2007.

Historic Mayors of Bridgwater

Post War Mayors of Bridgwater

1945 R Chamberlain

1946 R Chamberlain

1947 R Washer

1948 R Washer

1949 R Washer

1950 E Wills

1951 E Wills

1952 P Wills

1953 G Hayball (Labour)

1954 A John

1955 R Biddiscombe

1956 N Gray

1957 Oscar Coate

1958 Jack Davies (Labour)

1959 Mrs Alice Potterton (Labour)

1960 J Headford (died) suc Alice Potterton

1961 A Frost

1962 C Milne

1963 C Harris

1964 Mrs Bea Davis

1965 Les Porter (Labour)

1966 Jack Davies (Labour)

1967 Louis Steer (died) suc C Harris

1968 Mrs Bea Davis

1969 Joe Ayres (Labour)

1970 Mrs Margaret Rees (Con)

1971 Mrs Irene Tester (Labour)

1972+73 Saunders (Lab)  -Last Borough Mayor

Charter Trustee Mayors of Bridgwater

1974 Charles Tester (Lab) – First Charter Trustee Mayor

1975 Trevor Donaldson (Con)

1976 Joe Ayres (Lab)

1977 Margaret Rees (Con)

1978 Mick Briscombe (Lab)

1979 Bill Chedgey (Lab)

1980 Mike Needs (Con)

1981 Ken Richards (Lab)

1982 Joe Ayres (Lab)

1983 Mike Cresswell (Con)

1984 Jenny Briscombe (Lab)

1985 Mary Tustian (Lab)

1986 Julie Hooper (Con)

1987 Ken Richards (Lab)

1988 Trevor Donaldson (Con)

1989 Joe Ayres (Trad Lab)

1990 Mike Cresswell (Con)

1991 Ken Richards (Lab)

1992 David Baker (Lib Dem)

1993 John Turner (Lab)

1994 Mick Briscombe (Lab)

1995 Trevor Donaldson (Con)

1996 Ken Parkin (Lab)

1997 Adrian Moore (Lab)

1998 Bill Munn (Lab)

1999 Roger Lavers (Lab)

2000 David Busby (Lab)

2001 Ken Richards (Lab)

2002 Adrian Moore (Lab) Last Charter Trustee Mayor

Town Council Mayors of Bridgwater

From 2003 the Government allowed Bridgwater to regain many of its ancient powers by creating a Town Council. With this new ‘parish’ status elections were held specifically for the role of Town Councillor.

2003 Adrian Moore (Lab) -1st TOWN Mayor

2004 Bill Munn (Lab)

2005 Bill Monteith (Lab)

2006 Pat Parker (Lab)

2007 Philip Smeed (Con)

2008 Graham Granter (Lab)

2009 Ken Richards (Lab)

2010 Bill Monteith (Lab)

2011 Pat Parker (Lab)

2012 Graham Granter (Lab)

2013 Dave Loveridge (Lab)

2014 Steve Austen (Lab)

2015 Leigh Redman (Lab)

2016 Alex Glassford (Lab)

2017 Graham Granter (Lab)

2018 Diogo Rodrigues (Lab)

2019 Tony Heywood (Lab)

2020 Leigh Redman (Lab)

2022 Liz Leavy (Lab)

2023 Mick Lerry (Lab)