THE highly fancied Kenrick Winchester was elected as mayor of the new Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) and Labor’s Esma Livermore as deputy mayor at its first meeting tonight (January 12) since the December election.

Mr Winchester, a member of the Labor Party, has sat on the council as an independent for two terms and was elected mayor at the council by seven votes to four against independent Mareeta Grundy, the only other councillor to throw their hat in the ring for the top job.

Mr Winchester takes over the spot from former Mayor Tim Overall who served in the role for 13 years and who did not contest last year’s council election.

Esma Livermore, who ran second on the Labor ticket, secured the position of deputy mayor also with seven votes to four against Ms Grundy. Ms Livermore is the first indigenous person to serve on the council.

She will be in the role until September 2022, at which point a new deputy mayor will be elected by the council after a motion for an election of the position at that time was unanimously agreed upon by the councillors.

Although for the first time in the council’s history the majority of representatives will be women, it will be a male councillor that will hold the position of mayor until the next election in September, 2023.

The full council includes:

• Kenrick Winchester, Independent
• Mareeta Grundy, Independent
• Jacqueline Ternouth, Liberal
• Esma Livermore, Labor
• Bryce Wilson, Labor
• Steve Taskovski, Independent
• John Preston, Labor
• Michele Biscotti, Independent
• Katrina Willis, Greens
• Louise Burton, Liberal
• Edwina Webster, Independent