The Charter Trustees (Bath Ward Councillors) will be holding their Annual Meeting and Election of Ceremonial Mayor in Bath Abbey on Saturday 7 June at 11.00 am.
Councillor Professor Bharat Pankhania will take up Office as the 798th Mayor of Bath. His wife, Mrs Alison Pankhania, will be Mayoress for the year ahead, often accompanying him to engagements.
He was first elected to Bath and North East Somerset Council in 2019 to represent Combe Down Ward as a Liberal Democrat. He was re-elected in 2023 and became Deputy Mayor.
Councillor Ian Halsall will be Deputy Mayor, and his husband James Fox will be Deputy Mayor’s Consort. He was elected to Bath & North East Somerset Council in 2023 to represent Oldfield Park as a Liberal Democrat.
Citizens and visitors are welcome to attend the Ceremony, and are asked to be seated in the Abbey by 10.40 am.
The Civic Procession to the Abbey will be led by the 93 (City of Bath) Squadron RAF Marching Band. The City Sword-Bearer, Mace-Bearers, The Right Worshipful The Mayor of Bath (Councillor Michelle O’Doherty), dignitaries, visiting Mayors, Charter Trustees and Honorary Aldermen in ceremonial robes, will leave the Guildhall at approximately 10.45 am. Avon Fire & Rescue Service Ceremonial Drill Squad will form a Guard of Honour. The Procession will return to the Guildhall at approximately 12.15 pm.
During a short interval, when civic robes and Collars and Badges of Office are exchanged, Bath Philharmonia and Harmony Rising choir will perform.
Traffic will be stopped for a short time by stewards at the pedestrian crossing near the Abbey to allow the Procession to make its way down the High Street, Cheap Street into Farr’s Passage and the Abbey Church Yard, and again on its return.
