Cllr Paul Ainsley was elected as the new Mayor of Oakham and Chairman of Oakham Town Council on 23rd October at a meeting of Oakham Council. 

Here's a look at who the new Mayor and Chairman is, how he came into the role and what he plans to do during his time as Mayor. 

Ainsley started his career serving in the RAF, spending time in the UK, Germany, Oman and Singapore. He notes that his time working on famine relief in Oman gave him a better understanding of real humanity and believes his time travelling and meeting people from different walks of life was extremely valuable in improving his outlook and ability to connect with others. 

After he retired from the Airforce, he began working as an IT consultant. One instance, he recalls, he was rung up by a client on Christmas Eve because there was an issue with their server. This lack of work-life balance exhausted Ainsley and he eventually left, focusing on his work in politics and volunteering. 

Ainsley is an avid volunteer, working with both Youth Justice and the Cadets. He finds his voluntary work very rewarding and his work sitting on the panel for Youth Justice has been the longest ongoing role he has remained in. He is a civilian instructor with the 2248 Rutland Squadron Air Cadets and loves working with young people as he can see a lot of himself in them and enjoys helping them to reach their potential. 

Cllr Ainsley was elected as the new Mayor following the stepping down of Cllr Adam Lowe. (Photo: LDRS)

Following his retirement from IT Consultancy, Ainsley took up working for Rutland County Council, then taking up a role within Oakham Town Council. During the elections in May last year, Ainsley was not re-elected to Rutland County Council and shifted his focus toward Oakham Town Council. 

Last year, he set up the Economic Strategy Working Group to work on improving the economic strategy for Oakham Town Council. This involved taking a fresh look at what the Town Council was doing within the community and assess what their role was within the community and whether they wanted to continue on this path. 

This has led to him becoming heavily focussed on rejuvenating the town centre, with a recent meeting between the Town Council and local business owners. This meeting, Ainsley described as "a strong first step," and was happy that the meeting had "really great engagement" from the community. 

He did not plan to become Mayor, but with the success of the Economic Strategy Working Group and the surprise stepping down of Cllr Adam Lowe from the role, Ainsley saw a real opportunity to make a positive difference both within the town council and Oakham as a community.  

He is enthusiastic about the future of the town, wanting to focus on bringing life back to the High Street, saying: "I have a passion for Oakham High Street to be improved, to be more cohesive and better for everyone."