Sheffield has elected its 127th Lord Mayor – here are her priorities

As Lord Mayor Cllr Colin Ross’ term (and career in Sheffield politics) came to an end, Cllr Jayne Dunn, his deputy, was appointed as the new Lord Mayor of Sheffield.

Cllr Dunn – or Lord Mayor Cllr Dunn – has been in the chamber for 12 years now and has been representing Southey ward since 2016.

She used to hold a number of important positions, including as a cabinet member for housing and for education and skills.

In her celebratory speech, the new Lord Mayor, Cllr Jayne Dunn said she would be the 127th Lord Mayor of Sheffield but only the 20th woman.

She said: “I think, and I may be wrong in this, I am the first unmarried woman to hold the role.”

She added with each Lord Mayor the role develops and evolves – but the outfit doesn’t, she said jokingly.

Lord Mayor Dunn said since she was elected in 2012, she was able to see this duty undertaken by 11 Lord Mayors.

“Each of them has a very different style, some traditional and some very much not so,” she said.

She said every Lord Mayor is trying to represent the people of Sheffield, the history, the traditions, culture and diversity, just to name a few.

She added she never thought she would be the Lord Mayor of Sheffield. She shared her journey which included being a single mum in her thirties “on social security dealing with homelessness the office of Lord Mayor felt a universe away”.

Lord Mayor Dunn said the role didn’t appeal to her but in the last 12 years, she saw the impact it had on the lives of people in and around Sheffield.

“The role is about boosting pride and representing what is great about our city, and for me, Sheffield’s strength is its pride, people and Henderson’s Relish, of course,” she said.

Her consort will be her son Thomas Dunn and she said they may be the first mother-son duo to hold these roles.

However, she added, Sheffield’s second Lord Mayor in the 1800s was Thomas Dunn (elected in 1844) so her son is “not the first Thomas Dunn to wear the chain”.

The council’s news website, SheffNews says the Lord Mayor will raise awareness of an important issue with a dedicated community champion each month during her term in the next 12 months.

The list is as follows:

May – mental health

June – arts and culture

July – independent businesses

August – outdoor city

September – carers

October – black history month

November – male health and wellbeing

December – family

January – modern-day slavery and human trafficking

February – young people

March – female health awareness month

April – disability awareness