Cllr Louisa Stinton is the new Mayor of Stroud, elected on 28 September. Tony Davey, who stood down, is now her deputy. What it means and what comes next.

Stroud has a new mayor. Cllr Louisa Stinton was elected Mayor of Stroud at Full Council on Monday 28 September, and the man she replaces is now her deputy.

Stroud Town Council’s Town Mayor page was updated on 1 October. It says Cllr Stinton was elected during the Full Council meeting on 28 September, and that Cllr Tony Davey was elected Deputy Mayor.

The two have simply swapped seats. Cllr Stinton had been Cllr Davey’s deputy since May 2025, and was elected deputy again in May 2026. He stood down as mayor on 18 September, four months into his third term, as we reported at the time.

Why the change happened now

Cllr Davey’s reason was the budget calendar, not a dispute. A town council starts work on next year’s budget in the autumn and sets it in February or March. The mayor, though, is normally elected in May. So the person who chairs the council through a year usually has no hand in setting that year’s budget.

By standing down in September, he gave councillors the chance to elect a mayor who would be in post for those budget talks. The council has now done that.

The agenda for the 28 September meeting set out the terms. Item 5 was “following the resignation of the Mayor, to elect a Mayor to serve until the next Annual Council Meeting”. That meeting is normally held in May, so Cllr Stinton’s first term runs until May 2027. The full agenda and papers are in the council’s combined meeting pack.

Who the new mayor is

Cllr Stinton represents Central ward, one of the town council’s six wards. Her councillor profile says she grew up in Herefordshire and settled in Stroud at the end of 2022.

The profile says she has a degree in Drama and English Language from the University of Birmingham, and works in operations for a training company. She lists the arts, women’s rights and mental health education as the causes she cares most about.

Cllr Davey remains a councillor for Uplands ward.

What else was on the agenda

The same meeting was asked to decide several money matters. The papers include:

  • a request to move up to £13,500 from the council’s general reserve for work at its Locking Hill offices, including a lockable roller door, blinds and acoustic panels in the council chamber
  • a request to agree in principle a further £15,000 for the offices in next year’s budget
  • a review of the £40,500 a year the council gives eight community organisations through service level agreements, led by an outside consultant

The council’s report on those agreements says the review does not start “from an assumption that existing SLA funding should be reduced or withdrawn”. It does not name the eight organisations. The minutes of the meeting, which will record what was decided, had not been published when we checked on 4 October.

What it means for you

  • The Mayor of Stroud is a civic role. The mayor chairs Full Council and represents the town at events. Your bins, parking and planning are run by Stroud District Council, and nothing about them changes.
  • You can invite the mayor to an event. The council says the mayor and deputy welcome invitations from local organisations, with events in the town given priority. The town council’s office is on 01453 762817.
  • The budget work starts now. The town council sets its own precept, which appears as a separate line on your council tax bill. Every parish precept in the district is on our Stroud council tax bands page.
  • The next Full Council is on Monday 7 December at 7.30pm, at the council offices on Locking Hill, GL5 1QN, according to the council’s meetings calendar. Members of the public can ask questions at the start.

Sources