Eileen Taylor 'proud' to be first black Lord Mayor of Leeds

Image source, leeds city council

Image caption, Eileen Taylor became councillor for Chapel Allerton in 2008

A woman whose father came to England as part of the Windrush generation is to become the first black Lord Mayor of Leeds.

Eileen Taylor said it was a "proud" moment and "a huge honour".

The Labour councillor for Chapel Allerton will become the 126th Lord Mayor of Leeds at the council's Annual General Meeting on 23 May.

Ms Taylor's father came to the city in the 1960s and she joined him in the early 1970s when she was a teenager.

She studied at Park Lane College before working for the NHS in Learning Disabilities and Mental Health at the age of 19.

In 2008, Ms Taylor became councillor for the Chapel Allerton ward and took early retirement in 2012 to concentrate on local politics.

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"I feel extremely delighted and grateful for the huge honour of representing our fantastic city of Leeds by becoming the new Lord Mayor for 2019-2020," she said.

"Being the first black Lord Mayor, and a woman, is a position which I am very proud of and really shows how great and diverse our city is."

Ms Taylor's appointment was announced at a full Leeds City Council meeting.