New Town Mayor 2018/19

Published: 24 May 2018

We are delighted to announce that, at the annual council meeting held on 23 May 2018, Cllr Stephen Murray was elected unanimously as the town mayor for 2018/19.  Cllr Chris Pond, in his nomination of Cllr Murray, referred to the inaugural meeting of the then Loughton Parish Council held on 8 May 1996 in the Lopping Hall.  At that meeting, Cllr Murray had been honoured to be elected as the first chairman of the new council; his obvious leadership skills and experience as a teacher made him the ideal candidate.  These qualities would continue to serve him well as our town mayor for the forthcoming year.

After his election, Stephen thanked members for electing him and said "I regard this as a great honour and I will certainly endeavour to carry out my civic responsibilities to the very best of my abilities.  There are some hard acts to follow – not least Cllr Phillip Abraham who, in my view, has had an outstanding year as our Town Mayor.  I have lived in our wonderful town for very nearly 60 years and chose to pursue my teaching career in Loughton schools.  I have also had the privilege of serving our town as an elected councillor for 36 years so I think I can safely say I know our town relatively well.  I am really looking forward to meeting in the next 12 months as many community groups, schools, businesses and volunteers as possible that make Loughton such a great place to live and work.  I also intend to speak out for Loughton about the key local issues such as the threats to Jessel Green and local bus services, and the future of Epping Forest College and our retail centres.”

Members also paid tribute to the work of outgoing mayor, Cllr Philip Abraham, commenting that, with his close connections with Kerala, he had raised the profile of the town internationally.  Local organisations had remarked on his genuine warmth and the way he performed his duties with good humour and enthusiasm.  The Town Council owed Philip a great deal for the exemplary way in which he had discharged his duties.

The new town mayor congratulated Councillor Stella Murphy on her appointment as Deputy Town Mayor.  Stella first joined the Council in 2016 to represent The Broadway ward. In nominating her, Cllr Chris Pond described Stella as very personable and business-like, an experienced charity worker for the NSPCC who would be ideal in this role.