'Get involved' says town's new mayor (From Penarth Times)

'Get involved' says town's new mayor

PENARTH'S new mayor has called for more young people to become involved in local politics because he is the youngest person on the council - at the tender age of 45.

Nigel John Gibbs, of Teasel Avenue, was sworn in for the second time in a decade on Friday, May 9.

And whilst he relishes the role, he wishes more youngsters would become involved. Ely-born Nigel, who has been married to Lorretta since 1986, joined politics at an early age.

He said: "When I first joined politics here I was the youngest person at 29 and now I am still the second youngest. We need to get young people involved and find out what their issues are."

He continued: "It is difficult for young people because there is not one group which can speak out for them"

Bio-medical scientist Nigel works at Llandough Hospital in the area of toxicology. His charities for this term are Marie Curie's Holme Tower Hospice, Penarth and a Prostrate Cancer Charity.

He said: "I was surprised to be nominated again for this post but I will try to improve on my performance last time."

Leaving office was David Clapham who expressed how much he enjoyed doing the job. Former mayor Mr Clapham paid tribute to his mayoress Ravi Narayannan because of the support she gave him while in office.

In the ceremony the nomination was made by Cllr John Birch and seconded by councillor Ann Rees.

Nigel added: "Having done the job before it will be interesting to see how I have changed. I will perform my duties to the best of my abilities." Deputy mayor will be Janice Birch who retains the post from last year.