The new mayor of St Ives wants to “embrace diversity” in the town in an effort to heal divisions.

Councillor Daniel Rowe was elected as mayor last Wednesday (May 8), following a unanimous vote at a town council meeting.

The mayor making, which was held in the Corn Exchange in St Ives, saw Cllr Rowe succeed Cllr Tim Drye, who held the position as mayor for 2018-2019.

Cllr Rowe is a graduate engineer and works in the area for a polymers manufacturing company. He has been on the town council for the past five years.

He spoke about his plans for mayor, as he starts his new term in office, after being elected as deputy mayor last year.

Cllr Rowe said: "My theme for the year is going to be on embracing diversity within our community. This is not talking about tolerating people in spite of their differences, but instead understanding those differences for the opportunities that they represent.

"This is particularly relevant in these days of Brexit, where divisions are becoming more apparent and need to be brought back together. In particular I hope to improve the activity in our relations with our twin town of Stadtallendorf."

Last year, Cllr Drye joined forces with Reverend Matt Finch, of St Ives Methodist Church, to make the town the first ever CALM (Campaign against Living Miserably) town.

The aim of making St Ives a CALM town is to allow people from different community groups to get involved and raise awareness of the importance of mental health.

Cllr Rowe said that he hopes to carry on the work that the former mayor had started.

Cllr Rowe said: "I also intend to continue the good work laid down by my predecessor, Tim Drye, regarding mental health and so will also be supporting the CALM town initiative and hopefully helping it to grow even further."

Cllr Jonathan Pallant was also elected as deputy mayor after joining the council in 2016.