MAYOR OF GODALMING

COUNCILLOR PENNY RIVERS

Penny was born in Jamaica and came to Godalming in 1974. She is married to Paul and they are due to celebrate their Ruby wedding anniversary this year in September. Penny is the proud mother of George, Robert, Edith and Edward, who all attended local schools and are now living and working in London and Osaka. Family is very important to Penny and since the death of her father in 2011, she has been a carer for her mother, Pamela.

Penny traces her interest in politics to her roots in Jamaica, where, when she was 11, she met Sir Alexander Bustamante who was the first Prime Minister of independent Jamaica and Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party. She remembers sitting beside him and listening to him for what seemed to her like hours. She had the great privilege to be a guest at his state funeral in Westminster Abbey in 1977 accompanying the then Minister for Tourism, Dr H. A. A. (Marco) Brown.

Penny is a Liberal Democrat and was first elected to Godalming Town Council in 1995, serving for the next 16 years during which time she was elected Mayor twice. She is currently serving on Surrey County Council for Godalming North and Waverley Borough Council for Farncombe & Catteshall Ward.

Find out about the current Godalming Town Mayor, past Mayors and how to invite the Mayor to your event.

Programme

You can find the programme of Mayoral engagements by clicking here.

Deputy Mayor

The role and duty of the Deputy Mayor is to deputise, as required, for the Mayor. When chairing Full Council the Deputy Mayor assumes the Mayor’s role and powers in relation to that meeting.

In undertaking engagements the Deputy Mayor’s role is to act as the Mayor’s representative.

Except for civic occasions and Full Council meetings, the Deputy Mayor has no role when the Mayor is present ie. if the Mayor attends an event as Mayor the Deputy Mayor may only attend the same function as a Councillor. Except for the aforementioned occasions, the Deputy Mayor must not wear chains of office whenever the Mayor is present.

Invite the Mayor

If you wish to invite the Mayor to your event please click here to complete a request form.

If you have a more specific enquiry regarding the Mayor please contact the Support Services Executive, Lynne Purnell.

Please Note

In speeches the Mayor is referred to as ‘Madam Mayor’ or ‘Mr Mayor’.
The Mayoress is the courtesy title for the wife of the Mayor, when the Mayor is a male. The partner of a female Mayor is a Consort.
If formal photographs are taken at the event, a copy would be appreciated for the Mayor’s portfolio.
Please note the Mayor will normally wear the chain of office unless your event is informal and you specifically request “no chain of office”.

Past Mayor’s Photo Gallery

The Mayoralty in Godalming has a long history, below you can view the photographs/images (that we have) of Town Mayors going back to 1786.