Berrylands ward councillor Sushila Abraham has been made the new mayor of Kingston.

Sushila, who was deputy mayor last year, took over from Cllr Margaret Thompson at the annual council meeting on Tuesday.

The borough’s 186^th mayor is looking forward to her new role especially at a time when people are coming together again after being so long apart because of coronavirus restrictions.

“I will be mayor for each and every citizen and I will be out and about as much as I can in light of the pandemic,” she said.

“My mayoral year will be marked and remembered as the time when all people were brought back together as one community from the effects of the pandemic across this borough and together we will appreciate, enjoy and embrace this place that we are privileged to call our home.”

Sushila said mental health and wellbeing are her focus for this year, reflected in the two organisations which will benefit as her mayoral charities – the Milaap multicultural day centre in Chessington and Anstee Bridge in Kingston which supports young people with emotional needs.

The solicitor, who has had her own practice in Ewell Road since 1999, became a ward councillor in a by-election in 2013.

She has served as deputy chair and chair of Surbiton Neighbourhood Committee and is a trustee of the Kingston Carers network and a former school governor.

Outside of work she enjoys cooking, gardening, golf and travelling. She’ll certainly be doing a lot of the latter round the borough in her new role with barrister husband Dr Mathew Abraham as her consort.