Mayor Making Ceremony 2016 - Councillor Ray Dutton becomes Mayor of Rochdale

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Mayor Ray Dutton and Mayoress Elaine Dutton

Councillor Ray Dutton was sworn in as the new Mayor of Rochdale at the annual mayor making ceremony held at Rochdale Town Hall on Wednesday.

Guests in the Great Hall watched the traditional ceremony as the departing Mayor and Mayoress, Surinder and Cecile Biant, officially stepped down and handed over their gold chains to Councillor Dutton and his wife Elaine.

Councillor Ian Duckworth and his wife Christine were appointed Deputy Mayor and Mayoress, and will become the Mayor and Mayoress next year.

Councillor Dutton became a councillor in 2011. He has chaired Heywood Township for the past two years and serves on the Audit and Regulatory committee, East Lancs Railway Trust, Heywood Magic Market Trust and Charities Fete.

He has served for 25 years as a school governor at Siddal Moor Sports College Heywood and is the Chairman of Governors at Newland Special Needs School Middleton and vice-chair at Harwood Park Primary School, Heywood.

His wife Elaine has been a teacher since 1974 and has lived in Heywood since 1975. She became a supply teacher in Rochdale schools until she went back permanently in 1984 as a teacher at Alderman Kay Special School.

In 2007 Mrs Dutton became Deputy Head of the special school, Springside in Rochdale. She is a school governor at two schools and church warden at St Margaret’s Church, Heywood.

A grandmother to three grandchildren, Mrs Dutton retired in 2013.

Mayor Ray Dutton said: “I thank everyone including the cross party support tonight. It is an honour and a privilege to take this role as the mayor.

“Our chosen charities will be the Springhill Hospice, the Children’s Moorland Home in Whitworth, and the Lee Rigby Foundation. Lee Rigby was our nephew and we are looking forward to supporting the foundation as much as we can.”

Mayoress Elaine Dutton said: “I am really looking forward to the year ahead, to be working across Rochdale as the mayoress is a real honour. I have lived in both Middleton and Heywood, and have worked in Rochdale, so the entire borough is close to my heart.

“Thank you to everyone for your support.”

Deputy Mayor Ian Duckworth said: “I am really looking forward to being deputy mayor and of course working alongside the mayor. It is a great honour to have this opportunity and it is made even more special for me because I was born here in Rochdale.

“My wife Christine deserves to become the deputy mayoress beside me because of all the years she has taken phone calls and done things on my behalf. It is going to be a great year and we are both looking forward to it very much.”