Cllr Tim Caswell was formally appointed as speaker at Bedford Borough Council Annual Meeting last night (Wednesday, 13 May), succeeding Labour councillor Colleen Atkins following her year in the civic role.
In his acceptance speech cllr Caswell (Lib Dem, Goldington), who was the previous year’s deputy speaker, set out his approach to chairing meetings in this election year.
He said the council’s constitution described the speaker as the “conscience of the council” and urged councillors to share responsibility for maintaining respectful debate despite political differences.
He told the members, “I respect anybody who defends freedom and democracy and tolerance, but in an election year we must have robust debate, and that makes it even more important that we are respectful of one another.”
During the meeting, councillors also paid tribute to outgoing speaker cllr Colleen Atkins (Labour, Harpur), who has been recovering from back injuries sustained in an accident in December.
Cllr Atkins told the meeting remotely that she had fractured her back after an accident while attending a Christmas carol service at HM Prison Bedford in her role as speaker.
She said: “I felt really, really honoured to be speaker of Bedford Borough Council. I wore that chain so proudly.”
Councillors from across the chamber praised her years of public service and wished her a speedy recovery.
The council also appointed Conservative cllr Sharan Sira (Conservative, Wyboston) as deputy speaker for the coming year.
Accepting the role, cllr Sira said she was honoured to take on the role and looked forward to working with councillors from all parties and representing the borough “with professionalism and fairness.”
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
