Welshpool mayor voted back for rare third term

Steve Kaye, who was appointed mayor of Welshpool back in 2016, was up against current deputy mayor Hazel Evans in a vote to lead the council for the coming year.

At Wednesday's town council meeting he won the vote, and in the process became one of the first mayors in the town to sit for three terms.

Councillor Kaye, who also stood to become a Powys county councillor last year, said he was delighted to serve another term and hopes to keep the town council ship steady in the coming year.

The mayor will be joined by new deputy Councillor Heather Chave.

He said: "I'm chuffed to bits to have been voted back in and pleased people have voted for me, I must be doing something right.

"I think it is about keeping the ship steady really, we have an important time coming up with possibly taking more services off the county council, so we just want to keep things moving.

"With that in mind I think people wanted to keep things as normal as possible."

Councillor Kaye has said he wants to continue to hold Powys County Council to account for their decisions, and to keep serving the people of Welshpool as best he can.

Looking back on the last year, he cited Welshpool's success in award ceremonies up against big city councils as some of his proudest moments.

He added: "Going to the award ceremonies in Cardiff and Manchester was fantastic.

"They were runners up prizes but to see Welshpool's crest up there alongside city council's and the NHS was really fantastic."

Fellow councillor Phil Pritchard has heaped praise onto the mayor for securing a third team, and paid tribute to his hard work and dedication.

The town and county councillor added: "I believe he has been an exceptional mayor who put his heart and soul into the role, and I think he is one of the first to serve three terms.

"People have done two and had a break then come back, but no one has done three in a row and he has done a fantastic job."