Following Council having approved the nomination of Councillor W Kendall as Mayor of Bridgend County Borough for the year 2023/2024, Councillor Kendall was invited by the outgoing Mayor, to formally accept the Office of Mayor. Councillor Kendall verbally accepted the office of Mayor and recited the following oath:–

“I William Kendall do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty the King, Charles the Third.”

Councillor M Jones extended his congratulations to the incoming Mayor.

The newly elected Mayor then gave the following speech.

‘I stand before you today with a profound sense of gratitude and as I accept the tremendous honour of being appointed Mayor of our County Borough. I appreciate the trust and confidence you have placed in me, and I promise to carry out my duties with dedication and integrity.

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the outgoing Mayor not just as tribute to his outstanding service as Mayor but also my personal gratitude for the mentoring he has given me in my role as Deputy Mayor.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer my gratitude to Roger Harrison   who has provided faultless guidance on every occasion that it has been required.

I would also like to Thank the Democratic Services Team for their advice  and counselling during my tenure as Deputy Mayor.

It is my privilege to announce the new Youth Mayor Ellie O’Connell and Deputy Youth Mayor Daisy Davies – congratulations to Ellie and Daisy in their roles.

I would like to take this opportunity to announce my nominated charity as  Wales Air Ambulance

To the citizens of our County Borough, I am profoundly honoured to be entrusted with the responsibility of serving as your mayor. I want to assure you that my tenure will be marked by transparency, inclusivity, and a steadfast commitment to serving the best interests of each and every one of you

I appreciate as elected Members we are all champions for Bridgend, county borough council all have responsibilities to voice residents' concerns and to help them realise their aspirations. As Mayor I will keep this at the forefront of every decision we take.

Thank you, and may we together make our County Borough an even better place to call home.

So to all, I say ‘onwards with confidence’.’