Worthing’s new first citizen to make history as youngest in the UK  

Worthing’s new mayor will make history becoming one of the youngest ever in the country to don the civic robes and chain.

Alex Harman is set to officially take on the role as the town’s first citizen at a ceremony today, Friday, May 19

At 23, he is not only the youngest ever mayor in the borough’s 127-year history, he is also the youngest borough mayor ever in the UK.

Alex said: “It’s a great privilege to be Mayor of Worthing. It’s a fantastic borough and I’m extremely proud to represent it.

“Obviously I’m a little bit younger to other mayors and I want to bring a little bit of an energy to the role that wasn’t there before

“I don’t think being 23 makes me too young for the job; it just means I’m a little different.

“The town is changing, you can see that with the demographics in that it is becoming a lot younger and a lot older too. I want to represent that in everything that I do.”

Alex has lived in West Sussex all his life, moving to Worthing seven years ago.

After leaving Worthing College, Alex secured an apprenticeship in Business Administration with West Sussex County Council and Northbrook College.

He has spent the majority of his career to date working in client facing roles for both large international companies and smaller more local businesses.

In the next 12 months, Alex will take a year out of work to fully focus on his civic duties, with hundreds of events already booked in his calendar.

After putting on the century-old robes for the first time on Friday, Alex will waste no time getting on to business - with a mayor’s inaugural dinner that evening followed by a civic service at St George’s church on Sunday.

The following day, he will welcome a group of English language school students from Austria and a local Brownies group into the mayor's chamber.

Alex will be accompanied throughout the year by his wife Fran, who works in finance for Worthing High School. They married in September last year.

Alex, who was elected to represent Selden ward on Worthing Borough Council in 2015, said: “I am looking forward to meeting as many members of the community as I can across the next year and promoting some of the great things that happen within the borough.

“I hope to spend some time with various council services to highlight the great work they do keeping our town a fantastic place to live.

“Across the last year as Deputy Mayor I have met with some amazing local businesses and charities and am looking forward to having the opportunity to meet more as Mayor."

QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS

Three top things to do in Worthing?

I enjoy going on the pier with withe my wife; going for a pint at my local pub; and going out to eat in some of the many restaurants in Worthing town centre.

Favourite food?

Indian food

Favourite sport?

Rugby

Favourite film?

Any of the Batman trilogy

Tell us something about the mayoralty we didn’t know?

The thing that fascinates me the most is the mayoral robes that you see the mayor out and about in are the same robes worn in 1890 when the role was first created.