Andy Bullen elected as new West Norfolk mayor - with Steve Bearshaw his deputy
Cllr Andy Bullen has been elected as the new mayor of Lynn and West Norfolk.
He will also serve as chairman of the borough council for the coming year following his appointment at the mayor making ceremony last night.
At the ceremony at Lynn Town Hall, Cllr Steve Bearshaw was elected as the deputy mayor.
Cllr Bullen was born in Lynn and has lived around the borough in the likes of Heacham, Great Massingham, Castle Acre and Downham.
He has long been involved with local wildlife organisations and spent time travelling and working abroad in publishing. He now runs a specialist maritime and port publishing business.
He is also chair of the Lynn Conservancy Board and continues to support young people in the borough through his long association with The Swan Youth Project and as honorary president of 42F Lynn Air Cadet Squadron.
Since being elected to the council in May 2019 as an independent councillor for North Downham, he has served on the environment and community panel and the bio-diversity task group.
In his spare time, Cllr Bullen enjoys his motorbike, cooking, cycling and music. He will be supported as mayor by his sister Jane Jestice.
Cllr Bearshaw, meanwhile, was born in Wigan and raised in North Yorkshire.
Growing up, he was extremely active and could usually be found on the golf course, the rugby pitch or 1000ft in the air teaching air cadets how to fly gliders.
A long 28-year career serving in the Royal Air Force has seen him posted to Germany, Scotland, West Midlands, Lincolnshire, Bristol and Norfolk, while countless detachments and operational tours have taken him all across the world.
In his time, he has worked on many different aircraft types, from those in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight - including Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancaster Bombers - to the latest state of the art technology of F-35 Lightning, in such roles as the configuration manager, modifications manager, fleet manager and his latest, quality manager.
A posting in 2001 brought him to Norfolk, where after ten years at Marham he settled and now lives in Clenchwarton.
Cllr Bearshaw is an independent councillor for the Clenchwarton ward and was elected to the council in May 2023, serving as the armed forces member champion and on the audit committee, standards committee, and corporate performance panel.
He has also served as chair of the regeneration and development scrutiny panel - until taking on his deputy mayor role - and the outside bodies of Armed Forces Covenant Board, Lynn Conservancy Board, Lynn Internal Drainage Board, East of Ouse Pulver and Nar Internal Drainage Board, Stoke Ferry Internal Drainage Board, and the Southery and District Internal Drainage Board.
He is also chair of the Clenchwarton Aircrew Memorial Charity.
He will be supported in his year in office by his wife, Marisol, who hopes in later retirement to be able to entice him back to where she grew up in the sacred valley of Peru.
