The new mayor of Haslemere Town Council has been elected.

Councillor Jacquie Keen was elected the town’s mayor for 2022-23 at Haslemere Town Council’s meeting last Thursday evening (May 19).

Cllr Keen was the only candidate and all councillors at the meeting voted in favour of her election. She replaces Cllr Simon Dear.

Cllr Jerome Davidson won a tight vote against Cllr Claire Matthes to be elected Haslemere’s deputy mayor for 2022-23.

Nine councillors voted for Cllr Davidson to be the town’s deputy mayor, with seven voting for Cllr Matthes.

Former mayor Cllr Dear has reflected on his year in the role, and thanked the community for its support.

He said: “I want to thank everyone for the all the kind words, support, views and comments in the past year.

“Being mayor, I’ve seen lots of reasons to be positive about our town.

“The kindness and resilience of people shown during the pandemic, the opening of new shops, restaurants and businesses in the area, the terrific job done by our schools, the active and inclusive role played by the clergy in town affairs, the ambitions of the town team group of community leaders, the generosity of our folks during crises such as Ukraine – it goes on.

“I hope the next mayor enjoys their year as much as I have done.”