Yolonda Henson steps down next month
Exeter’s outgoing lord mayor has asked councillors to “look after” the city in her final council meeting.
Councillor Yolonda Henson is stepping down next month, more than 40 years after first being elected to the city council.
The Conservative member for St Loyes has spent her final year on the council serving as lord mayor – a politically-neutral, ceremonial role. Over the past 12 months, the city mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II and marked the accession of King Charles III.
Addressing colleagues on Tuesday at the end of the last full meeting before May’s elections, Cllr Henson said: “It has been 40 years of my life and you don’t know how I’m going to miss it.
“I’ve met lovely people coming and going and I love you dearly. Not always we like each other but, at the same time, this is not about me or the mayoralty or whom I represent.
“It is what the mayoralty means to the city and I believe that should go on with some force.
“Look after it because it is Exeter and you are Exeter. Look after Exeter.”
Cllr Henson was given a standing ovation by all those at the city’s historic Guildhall.
Liberal Democrat councillor Kevin Mitchell will take over as lord mayor next month. He has been on the council for almost 20 years, serving as deputy lord mayor in 2008/09 and 2011/12, and says it will be a “great honour.”
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