AN OTLEY resident has spoken of his pride at becoming the new Lord Mayor of Leeds.

Councillor Gerry Harper (Lab, Hyde Park and Woodhouse) received unanimous support at last week's annual meeting of Leeds City Council to take up the role.

Following Cllr Judith Chapman (Lib Dem, Weetwood) in the mayoral position, Cllr Harper, who lives in Manor Street, Otley, is the 123rd person to have held the office.

He will be accompanied on his engagements for the coming year by the Lady Mayoress, his partner, Lynne Scholes.

Cllr Harper's recipients for the Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal for 2016/17 will be Leeds-based Heart Research UK and Epilepsy Action, which has its head office in Yeadon.

He said: "It is an unbelievable honour and privilege to be elected as the new Lord Mayor of Leeds.

"Having arrived in Leeds from Belfast with my family as a young boy, I never imagined that one day I would have the opportunity to represent our truly amazing city in such a way.

"Both I and the Lady Mayoress cannot wait for our engagements to start, so we can begin to meet the fantastic people of our city.

"This year, my chosen charities are Epilepsy Action and Heart Research UK, and we are really looking forward to increasing awareness about both conditions, whilst hopefully raising a significant amount to support the brilliant work they do."

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Cllr Harper moved with his family to the Harehills area of Leeds in 1967.

He began his working life in Kirkgate Market, before taking positions at Montague Burton in Leeds and Archbold Storage Ltd, Gildersome.

He trained as a central heating surveyor at British Gas in Wortley in 1978, and remained in the job until he was elected as a Labour councillor in the then university ward of the city in 1994.

Currently representing the Hyde Park and Woodhouse ward, Cllr Harper has taken on a number of roles during his time as a councillor.

Those include being executive board member for environment and cleansing, deputy executive board member for regeneration, transport and planning, and chairman of Leeds Markets board.

In his private life, he is an avid Leeds United and Leeds Rhinos fan and enjoys running, tennis, swimming and cycling.