Liberal Democrat councillor and Church of England minister Chris Cullwick will become Lord Mayor of York for the second time in three years on Thursday.

And he's hoping his second stint as York's first citizen won't be affected by Covid the way his first term in office was.

Cllr Cullwick, the councillor for Huntington and New Earswick, served as Lord Mayor in 2021/22.

He had originally been due to take over the mayoralty the year before, in 2020/21. But when it became clear, in early 2020, just how much Covid was going to affect the city, previous Lord Mayor Janet Looker agreed to serve a second term instead.

Cllr Cullwick's term of office was moved back to 2021/22. But it quickly became clear that Covid hadn't finished with York.

A good half of the events that had been planned for his year of office were never able to happen, he admits.

"It was York's turn to host Yorkshire Day - but it soon became clear that wasn't happening!" he said.

Charity fundraisers had to be cancelled or postponed - and, with the new Omicron variant of Covid spreading quickly, even an outdoor carol concert on the steps of the Mansion House just before Christmas was postponed.

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So when, last December, councillors met to decided who would be Lord Mayor for 2023/24, they decided to put Cllr Cullwick forward again.

He will succeed Cllr David Carr - who took over from Cllr Cullwick himself just a year ago.

Cllr Cullwick, who has been ordained in the Church of England for over 40 years and served as chaplain to the city for ten years whilst based at York St John University Chaplaincy, said he was looking forward to his second stint as York's first citizen.

"I'm honoured an very pleased to be able to serve the city again," he said.

The role of Lord Mayor of York is a unique one, he admitted. "There's a kind of soft power which comes with the mayoralty that can do so much to just be the glue of civic life.

"I'm very much looking forward to it and to making a difference. As the Lord Mayor, you can do so much in the city, sometimes just by acknowledging the contributions that people are making across York."

Cllr Cullwick's wife Joy will be Lady Mayoress, and he has chosen Sue Hunter to serve as Sheriff, with her partner Nigel as Sherriff’s Consort.

The Lord Mayor's charities for the year will be SNAPPY and the York Women's Counselling Service.

"We've got a great programme of events for that over the next 12 months," he said.