Ian Campbell is set to become Retford's youngest ever mayor.
RETFORD can boast the youngest mayor in the country after a newly elected 23-year-old councillor was nominated for the civic role.
It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Councillor Ian Campbell, who is settling in to representing his constituents in the East Retford West ward.
He scraped through by just 15 votes in the district council elections earlier in the month.
Thanks to his rapid rise through the ranks, it is thought he is the youngest Mayor the town has had in its history and he could even be the youngest ever Mayor in the UK.
Mr Campbell said: "Everything has come along so quickly. It's astonishing.
"I think I will be able to balance the roles perfectly well.
"In fact, being the Mayor will only enhance the way I represent my ward."
Mr Campbell admitted he had come a long way in the past 12 months.
He said: "I never thought in a million years that I would be in this position.
"Everything is the opposite to what it was a year ago. I had no job, no place to call my own and now it is very, very different."
Last month it was reported the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead was claiming 29-year-old Catherine Bursnall as England's youngest current mayor.
And in 2004, Market Rasen had the youngest known mayor, David Kitchen, who reached 23 on March 12, 2004.
Mr Campbell, who was 23 on March 20 this year, is younger by eight days.
Bassetlaw's MP John Mann, who gave Mr Campbell his first job in politics working in his office, said: "This makes the year ahead even more exciting.
"I value the contribution that young people can make and hope that this serves as a challenge for other young people who want to put themselves forward for election," he added.
Mr Campbell will be installed as Retford's Mayor at the Annual Meeting of East Retford's Charter Trustees on Wednesday, June 2, at noon.
'''23-letni Ian Campbell został mianowany burmistrzem (town mayor) miasteczka Retford w Nottinghamshire, stając się tym samym najmłodszą osobą w Wielkiej Brytanii, która piastowała takie stanowisko. W ubiegłym miesiącu Campbell został radnym z okręgu East West Retford, z nominacji Partii Pracy. Zgłoszony na stanowisko burmistrza podczas głosowania pokonał rywala-konserwatystę 15 głosami.'''

Wcześniej, w 2004 roku w Market Rasen (Lincolnshire) mianowano burmistrzem Davida Kitchena, który miał wówczas również 23 lata. Obecny najmłodszy burmistrz jest od niego młodszy o osiem dni. Media poinformowały, że Campbell jest także otwartym gejem oraz aktywnym działaczem środowiska LGBT. W poprzednim roku prowadził w szkołach zajęcia warsztatowe zwalczania zastraszania ze strony homofobii, za co został uhonorowany tytułem Młodego Człowieka Roku 2009 w Nottinghamshire. Wiadomo też, że gdy kilka lat temu gdy ujawnił się jako gej przed swoją rodziną, został wyrzucony z domu. Podczas kampanii wyborczej orientacja seksualna nie stanowiła dla niego żadnego problemu.