Cllr Peter Baillie is the newly elected Mayor of Southampton

The Harefield ward councillor was appointed as mayor during a ceremony held at the Guildhall on Wednesday morning.

Originally from Somerset, he moved to Southampton where he worked as a pharmacist and was first elected as councillor for Bitterne Park ward in 2002.

During the mayor making ceremony Cllr Baillie was proposed as mayor by his son and Sholing ward councillor James Baillie who said: “He has been a role model for me. I am incredibly biased but he has been the best father I could ask for. I know he is really looking forward to his mayoral year. We wish him all the best of luck. ”

Cllr Peter Baillie said  Leukemia Busters, Communicare and Young Life are the three charities he will be supporting over the next year.

He then added: “I am very proud to be elected mayor. I will do it to the best of my ability. It is an important role in the city. I am looking forward to meeting members of the community. I would like to raise money for the mayoral charities and see as much of the city and different aspects of the city as I can.”

Cllr Baillie takes the mantel from councillor Stephen Barnes-Andrews, who was first elected onto the council in 1994 and had also served as the city’s mayor in 2007-2008. 

On Wednesday he said: “It has been a wonderful year for me as a mayor. Southampton continues to thrive and it is wonderful  to go out and visit individuals and businesses and encourage them. We have got tremendous challenges in the city and I’m going to focus to be sure that people who work in the city and visit the city are proud to be here and we have to look after the people who live in Southampton.”

 Cllr Sue Blatchford has been appointed as sheriff.