New Mayor of Tunbridge Wells

Councillor Godfrey Bland is the new Mayor of Tunbridge Wells after being elected at the Annual Meeting of the Council on Wednesday 25 May 2022.

Godfrey has been a ward councillor for Hawkhurst and Sandhurst since 2015 and has lived in the ward for more than 40 years. He and his wife Olga have three children and three grandchildren. Sadly, Olga died just a short time after they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2019.

Caroline Sampson, Godfrey’s daughter will accompany him as Mayoress during his year of office.

Godfrey and Caroline will have a very busy start to the Mayoral year as they are planning to attend many of the events taking place across the borough to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen.
In his first speech to the Council as Mayor, Godfrey looked forward to the coming year saying: ‘My focus in this Mayoral year will be on the borough’s small businesses, they create enormous wealth and good inside the borough and I think we should do all we can to support them.’

Hospice in the Weald

As is customary the Mayor chooses a charity to support and Godfrey spoke about his choice, Hospice in the Weald. This local charity provides care for patients with a terminal illness, and those important to them.
Explaining the very personal reason behind his choice Godfrey said: ‘I chose to support the Hospice in the Weald because they looked after my wife, Olga. We were very moved by the kindness and compassion they showed.’
Godfrey takes over as Mayor from Chris Woodward. During the meeting, his last engagement as Mayor, Chris presented a cheque for £5,195.64 to Mental Health Resource, the charity he supported during his term of office.
Deputy Mayor

Councillor Hugh Patterson was elected as Deputy Mayor.