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HMT Windrush arrival Kathy Williams set to become city mayor

Kathy Williams Kathy Williams alongside an aerial shot of the centre of GloucesterKathy Williams
Kathy Williams has spent much of her life working in the health sector

A woman who has spent her working life in public service after arriving in the UK on the HMT Empire Windrush as a baby is set to become Mayor of Gloucester.

Longlevens councillor Kathy Williams, 72, is due to be appointed to the ceremonial role in May.

The former nurse said it was her "last opportunity" to become mayor as she is due to stand down from the council next year.

She is currently the cabinet member for adult social care.

Ms Williams, who is also a county councillor, said: "I've thought a lot about it but I thought 'it's now or never'."

She said the aim of her year as mayor was to raise money for two causes, Gloucester City Farm and the Music Works.

Born in what was then the Federation of Malaya but brought up in Gloucestershire, Ms Williams was among those who came to Britain from south-east Asia on the HMT Empire Windrush, in 1951.

The ship, which also brought the first group of post-war Caribbean immigrants to the UK in 1948, became symbolic of the Commonwealth citizens who came to live in Britain between 1948 and 1971.

"I was born in Kuala Lumpur as my father was in the army. I was a British citizen but when it came to getting a passport I had quite a few difficulties," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

"Although I was born in Kuala Lumpur, I've always considered that Gloucestershire is my home.

"I've lived in Gloucestershire since I was three years old when we came to the Ashchurch Army camp, and I've been in the county ever since."

Press Association Aerial shot of severe flooding in Gloucestershire in 2007Press Association
Ms Williams joined Gloucestershire County Council in 2007, when the area was hit by severe flooding

Ms Williams became a county councillor in 2005 and then joined Gloucester City Council in 2007, the year the county was devastated by severe summer floods.

"It was a baptism of fire. Perhaps the floods really put me on the frontline," she said.

She added she had enjoyed her time serving in the cabinet, which she joined in 2013, and that being mayor would be her "swansong".

County council leader Mark Hawthorne said Ms Williams had brought a "wealth of knowledge and experience" to the cabinet.

"Kathy has been an outstanding public servant, and I know she will enjoy her year as Mayor of Gloucester," he added.

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