New mayor takes the Milton Keynes chain of office in sombre circumstances

In the the first-ever lived streamed annual meeting of Milton Keynes Council on Wednesday (May 20), Cllr Andrew Geary picked up the chain of office after outgoing mayor Cllr Sam Crooks had sanitised his hands and placed it on a table.

Cllr Geary (Cons, Newport North & Hanslope) is a lay preacher who vowed in his acceptance speech to follow the “leadership of Jesus Christ”.

“We were never going to and will not be beaten,” he told the sparsely attended council chamber as most councillors joined online. “We must and we will concentrate on all that is positive.

“Whilst covid-19 remains at the forefront of everyone’s minds this evening and remains at the very forefront of the council’s day to day work and tasks, I believe that even now the time to begin to look forward has come.

“Together we will come through these dark days. And although we may have to get used to a new normal, whatever that will look like, we know that life moves on at a pace and we know that civic leadership is perhaps more important than ever.”

A farmer who is married to Lisa with two teenage children, Josh and Rebekah, Cllr Geary named his charities for the year as MK Dons SET, and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

Cllr Geary has now joined a select band of councillors to have held the posts of leader and mayor. This includes his immediate predecessor, Cllr Crooks.

In his final mayoral speech, Cllr Crooks said: “Since February nearly 300 of our fellow citizens in Milton Keynes have died from covid-19.

“I want to extend the thoughts and sympathies of all of us at this meeting – and watching on YouTube – to the families and friends of those who have been bereaved.”

He spoke of the resilience of Milton Keynes and the “rich tapestry” of community life.

“Those strengths have been on display during the last couple of months. Grief and resilience walk hand in hand.”

Cllr Crooks has been on the council for nearly 30 years, and in the city for nearly 50.

He spoke of never being more proud of MK than at the moment in the way it has responded to the public health emergency.

“Day after day that tapestry of community life has demonstrated its strength and shown just how much our city can do when tested.”

Cllr Crooks announced that he will be carrying our a feasibility study to establish a new grant fund in response to the pandemic.

He also hopes to see a memorial for the uniformed services to recognise the work of soldiers, police officers, firefighters and nurses.

The appointment of the deputy mayor was deferred due to unspecified personal reasons of the Labour nominee, Cllr Moriah Priestley (Central MK). Cllr Priestley passed on her apologies for not being at the meeting and was unavailable for comment.