The next Mayor of Brighton and Hove was chosen by councillors at a meeting at Brighton Town Hall this evening (Thursday 13 December).
Councillor Denise Cobb, 59, has been a Conservative member of Brighton and Hove City Council since 1999 and represents Westbourne ward in Hove.
After winning the unanimous backing of her colleagues across party lines, she said: “I’m delighted.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m really glad to have been given that opportunity.”
Councillor Cobb has two sons, aged 36 and 34, a granddaughter and 3 grandsons.
She was born in Brighton and has lived in London and America.
She went to St Joseph’s School, first in Milton Road, off the bottom of Elm Grove, and later in Davey Drive, Hollingdean. She then went to Fitzherbert School in Warren Road, Woodingdean.
She works as a massage, sports massage and beauty therapist and teaches swimming and aquatic exercise. She is a qualified swimming, fitness and gym instructor.
Her career has also taken in jobs at Brighton Polytechnic, now Brighton University, and Heathrow airport. And she has worked with young adults with profound multiple learning difficulties and severe physical disabilities.
Councillor Cobb has experience of working with the unemployed, training and helping them to find voluntary and paid work.
She has been employed in local hospitals as a theatre sterile services supervisor and as a qualified phlebotomist.
She has been a voluntary instructor for the American Red Cross, helped to raise funds for children’s sport, lifeguarded for youth group trips and taught fun exercise sessions for all ages.
She said that she was looking forward to meeting and greeting people as mayor – meeting people from all walks of life in Brighton and Hove and greeting visitors to the city.
She added: “I’m looking forward to promoting the city and being a good advocate for Brighton and Hove.”
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