Mother and son appointed as new mayoral team

The new Mayor of Lancaster, Councillor Abi Mills, with the new Deputy Mayor, Councillor Hamish Mills

A mother and son have officially donned their robes to become a new mayoral team of a historic city.

Councillor Abi Mills has taken over as the Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Lancaster, a tradition that dates back to 1338.

Mrs Mills, 53, will be supported by son, Hamish, 21, who has also been unveiled as the city's deputy mayor.

She said taking over the role from councillor Roger Dennison was an "immense privilege".

'Remarkable journey'

Mrs Mills, who is a childminder and a mentor for other childminders, has been a ward councillor for the Scotforth West ward of Lancaster since 2014.

Mrs Mills said she was "delighted" to have the support of her son and her husband, Jon, as consort.

"This upcoming year promises to be a remarkable journey for us all," she added.

“I hope to meet as many local people, groups and organisations as I can that make up our wonderful vibrant communities as well as raise vital funds for two charities which are close to my heart.”

The mayor is a non-political symbol of the local authority

Born in Stoke, the new mayor spent most of her childhood and teenage years living in Yate, just north of Bristol.

Mrs Mills studied at Oxford Polytechnic, then came to Lancaster to do a PGCE at St Martin’s College (which is now the University of Cumbria) in the early 1990s.

She moved permanently to Lancaster in 1996, with her husband, and has lived in the Greaves area of the city ever since.

Son, Hamish, was born and raised in Lancaster, and went to Bowerham Primary School, and has been active in the local Green Party since a young child.

He was elected to Lancaster City Council to represent the Bowerham Ward in 2023, and is a member of the North Lancashire Green Party Executive Committee in the role of local Young Greens Co-ordinator.

During her mayoral year, the charities Ms Mills has chosen to support will be Citizens’ Advice North Lancashire and Smile for ME, which is a charity that sends personalised presents, called ‘Smiles’, to nominated myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) sufferers and their carers.