29/11/24 

At an Extraordinary Meeting of Cardiff Council yesterday, Councillor Helen Lloyd Jones was inaugurated as the new Lord Mayor of Cardiff, and Councillor Michael Michael was appointed as the new Deputy Lord Mayor.

The meeting to appoint the new Lord Mayor and Deputy was called following the passing in September of the late Lord Mayor, Councillor Jane Henshaw.

Councillor Helen Lloyd Jones was serving as the Deputy Lord Mayor for the municipal year 2024/25. Yesterday she told Cardiff Council: "I pray we never experience again the loss of our Lord Mayor while in office and our thoughts are very much with Jane's family today. We will continue to support her charity of choice, Cardiff Foodbank."

A Chartered Engineer, Councillor Lloyd Jones is passionately proud to be Welsh and was brought up in the Welsh Marches in a small village near Hay on Wye. Her husband, Sir Richard Lloyd Jones KCB, a retired Welsh Civil Servant, will serve as her Consort during her term.

Elected to Cardiff Council in 2022, Councillor Lloyd Jones represents the Radyr and Morganstown ward and sat on both the Economy & Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committees.

She has been a Council Member of Countryside Council for Wales. An avid walker and runner, she has been involved in various outdoor and community projects, including chairing Ramblers Cymru and the Penrhys Pilgrimage project. She has run the New York Marathon, and is working towards completing a thousand Parkruns by her hundredth birthday.

Speaking at her inauguration, the new Lord Mayor said: "It's a huge honour to be a Lord Mayor. This role is not about the person; it is about the amount of joy we give when we visit groups who quietly get on with doing extraordinary things. They are so pleased to show us what they do and to be appreciated. In a world that wakes us up every morning to the latest gloom and doom, it is so life-affirming to meet so many people who are doing their bit to make this world a safer, happier place, and they deserve our recognition. We may not be the biggest city, or the richest, or the oldest, but we have recently been voted the nicest city, the place where we are most likely to do kind things for our neighbours. The friendly city, Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, long may we keep it so."

Councillor Michael, the new Deputy Lord Mayor, has been a Cardiff Councillor since 1997. He initially represented Fairwater and, since 2012, has served the Trowbridge and St Mellons ward. Michael has worked extensively with local groups to enhance both Trowbridge and St Mellons and has been involved in community projects across the city.

Originally from Cyprus, Michael moved to Cardiff in March 1961 and is the first Greek Cypriot to hold the position of Deputy Mayor. He expressed his gratitude, saying, "It's a huge honour, and it's a tribute too, to all those who came here to live from across the world and have helped make Cardiff the wonderful, inclusive city it is today."

Cllr Michael's wife Joyce will act as his consort for the municipal year, which ends in May 2025.