THE NEW mayor of Swindon could be one of the last ones from the town to have worked on the railways here.

Coun Rex Barnett, who spent much of his career working for the railway in Swindon, was formally elected as mayor yesterday.

The ceremony took place in front of an audience including the Lord Lietenant of Wiltshire, John Bush, and the High Sheriff, Dame Elizabeth Neville, as well as the two new MPs Justin Tomlinson and Robert Buckland, in the town’s Civic Offices.

His deputy was elected as Coun Ray Ballman.

Coun Barnett has an exciting year ahead of him and one in which he could see Swindon Town FC promoted.

But his mayoral year also coincides with his Golden Wedding anniversary with wife, Sandra, to whom he paid tribute when accepting the position.

“My wife Sandra will be mayoress and I would like to thank her for all her support over the last year while I have been deputy mayor,” he said.

He added that he was ‘very proud’ to be elected as mayor of Swindon but also as the first mayor to come from Haydon Wick.

He said his charities for the year would be CALM (Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Movement), Prospect Hospice and Willows counseling service.

Leader of the council, Coun Rod Bluh, described Coun Barnett as a ‘happy chappy, smiley man’ with a great sense of humour while Coun David Renard said it never ceased to amaze him how well-known Coun Barnett was in Swindon.

Coun Stan Pajak added: “He is someone who speaks an awful lot of sense.”

As the former mayor Coun David Wren stood down, Coun Fionuala Foley gave a vote of thanks for all his hard work over the last year.

She said he had been to 411 events over the year and presided over the citizenship ceremonies for 500 people.

She joked: “Each of them get a free photograph of them standing with the mayor which means there are 500 photographs of him up on mantlepieces around Swindon.”

Coun Foley also praised the £28, 472 he had raised his charities over the year.

Coun Wren said the highlights of the year for him had been going to Swindon’s twin town of Salzgitter in Germany as well as Disneyworld in Florida, which the town is also twinned with.

He also paid tribute to the wealth of carers in Swindon and the ‘many wonderful people’ he had met.