Councillor Chris Harper has been elected as Peterborough City Council Mayor for 2026/27, following the annual meeting of Peterborough City Council this evening.
Cllr Harper has been a council member for more than 15 years and represents Stanground South ward. His wife Rita will be Mayoress.
The Deputy Mayor will be Cllr Andrew Bond, and Cllr Jade Seager will be Deputy Mayoress.
During his spell as Mayor, Cllr Harper will support the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Peterborough Women's Aid and Little Miracles.
He said: “I am really looking forward to my time as Mayor, it’s a great honour and would like to thank my fellow councillors for electing me to this prestigious role. I’ve always enjoyed meeting the many wonderful people who help make our historic city tick and being Mayor will give me a further chance to do this, which I'm relishing.”
Cllr Harper was born in Peterborough and brought up in Gunthorpe and Paston, being educated at Gunthorpe Primary followed by Walton Comprehensive School.
He joined the Eastern Electricity Board as an apprentice electrician in 1979 after a short interim job at Cantors in Long Causeway, studying at Havering and Peterborough Technical Colleges.
In 1996 he became a refrigeration engineer with Iceland Foods, progressing to technical support and training manager. Following a short-term position with an international air handling company as UK Service Manager he moved into his current position at Lloyds Bank as an Electrical Engineer in 2003.
He and Rita have two children and they moved to the Park Farm area of Peterborough in 1998. His interests include a passion for family life and friends, caravan holidays, coarse fishing and voluntary work.
Cllr Harper also spent eight years serving the St John Ambulance Brigade and five years as a Special Constable with Cambridgeshire Police, as well as serving as a School Governor at Heritage Park Primary School for 10 years.
In May each year, a long-serving Peterborough councillor is appointed as the Mayor of Peterborough, with their term of office lasting for one year.
The mayoral role is largely ceremonial and is seen as a symbol of continuity, a recognisable and ever-present factor in people’s experiences, effectively connecting the present with the past.
For more information about the role of Mayor visit the About the Mayor page.