East ward councillor Stella Smith is set to be installed as the new Mayor of Bury for the 2015/16 municipal year.

She has been nominated to take over the chains of office from Cllr Michelle Wiseman at the Bury Council meeting on Wednesday 20 May. If elected, she will be the fifth consecutive female mayor of Bury.

Cllr Smith has already served a year as mayoress, when her husband John Smith was Mayor of Bury in 2002/03.

She was born and raised in Manchester, and gained a B.Sc. in biological chemistry from Manchester University followed by research studies in microbiology at Birmingham University. She taught biology and chemistry in a number of schools in Bury and Manchester, and then for 12 years in Bolton before taking early retirement in 2000.

It was at Manchester University that she met John, and they moved to Bury in 1969 when they married. The couple have four grown-up children; one son and three daughters, all married, and nine grandchildren.

Her political career in Bury began when she was elected as a Labour councillor for Unsworth ward in 2000 and served for four years, including as executive member for environment and transport.

She was later elected as a councillor for East ward in 2012, filling the seat that had been left vacant by the late council leader John Byrne. Since then she has served as a board member on Six Town Housing, as a member of the health scrutiny committee, and the Joint Hospital Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the Pennine Acute Trust. She is also a member of Bury East Township Forum, and a Bury representative on the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority.

Cllr Smith has served on the governing bodies of Millwood Special Primary School and Holy Cross College since the year 2000, and has also served as governor at East Ward County Primary School and Unsworth County Primary School.

She said: “It’s a great honour to be nominated to serve as Mayor of Bury for the coming year. There are so many individuals and groups who do fantastic work across the borough and who make Bury the welcoming place that it is, and I’m really looking forward to meeting as many of them as I can.”

Her husband John, former deputy leader of the council and who stood down as a Redvales councillor at last week’s local elections, will be the mayor’s consort for the coming year.

The mayor has chosen Bury Hospice as the main beneficiaries of her mayoral charity appeal.

A mayoral service will be held at Guardian Angels Church in Harvey Street, Elton on Sunday 7 June at 10.30am.

In accordance with tradition, Cllr Wiseman and her daughter Danielle are expected to be installed as deputy mayor and mayoress for the coming year.

Residents can tune in live to watch the ceremony from 4pm at http://new.digitaltreemedia.co.uk/burycouncil/