Cllr Michalowski elected Mayor, Cllr Cooper is new Deputy Mayor

The two councillors have lived in the borough for a while and are ardent supporters of volunteering.

Cllr Michalowski has chosen courage as the theme for his mayoralty.

He said: “It is a great honour to be elected Mayor. I’m looking forward to meeting residents, businesses, local groups from across the borough, and supporting my nominated charities: I Choose Freedom, and Home Start East Surrey (HSES).

“In the year ahead, I want to focus my efforts on serving the borough’s communities with a passion. During my mayoralty, I would like to give people courage - courage to face challenges, courage to say ‘hello’, courage to say, ‘I need help’, courage to say, ‘That's not OK’, courage to make a change for you and for yours, and courage to work with our neighbours as we embark on reorganisation”.

Until his election as Mayor, Cllr Michalowski was Deputy Leader, and Executive Member for Place, Planning Policy and Regulatory Services. In 2020, he served as Executive Member for Leisure and Culture.

Born in Tadworth, Cllr Cooper is a primary school teacher with extended qualifications as a specialist for children with additional needs. She has previously been involved in scouting, running scout groups, and training adults to become scout leaders. She is currently Chair of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee and the Reigate and Banstead Borough Council representative for Town Twinning.

She says that she is looking forward to supporting and finding out more about the residents and community groups within the borough during her year as Deputy Mayor.

On being selected as one of the mayor’s chosen charities, the I Choose Freedom team said: “We are deeply honoured that we have been selected as one of the mayoral charities for this year. This means so much to us as an independent local charity and provides a valuable opportunity to raise awareness on domestic abuse and elevate the voices of survivors. We’re hugely grateful to Councillor Michalowski for using his mayoral term to shine a spotlight on the vital need for lifesaving refuge provision. We look forward to working closely together over the next year to really make a difference to survivors of domestic abuse in need.”

Anna Spenceley, Chief Executive Officer of Home-Start East Surrey said: “We are delighted to be chosen as one of the mayor’s local charities for 2025/26. We are very excited to be given the opportunity to raise our profile and tell our local community all about the services we offer and how we rely on donations and grants to continue our much-needed work. We are so grateful for this opportunity of support and awareness raising with the mayor for the year ahead.”

I Choose Freedom

I Choose Freedom provides refuge and a path to freedom to adult and child survivors fleeing domestic abuse. Their communal and individual refuges provide shelter, care and advocacy for over 100 adults and 150 children each year. Survivors in their care are the highest risk, those at risk of murder if they remained in the family home. For more information visit the I Choose Freedom website.

Home-Start East Surrey (HSES)

Home-Start East Surrey (HSES) is a local early help family charity which provides emotional and practical support to families with children under the age of 12 who are struggling to cope with difficulties such as disability, mental health, isolation and bereavement. For further details visit the Home-Start East Surrey website.

You can find out more about the Mayor’s chosen charities on our website and keep up to date with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s engagements around the borough on Facebook and Twitter.

Invite the Mayor to an event

During the year, the Mayor will represent the Borough by attending a broad range of functions, from formal receptions and official openings to visits to local clubs, schools and community groups, to 100th birthday celebrations.

Please complete this form to invite the Mayor to your event.

• View current Mayoral engagements
• View upcoming Mayoral and Civic Events