Councillor John Dennis has been elected as the new chairman of East Riding of Yorkshire Council following the annual general meeting of council.
Councillor Dennis, who will serve until May 2017, has been a councillor for the South West Holderness ward since his election in 2011.
He was born and brought up in Hull and after leaving school at 16 found work with Reckitts and then Ideal Standard before joining Larards estate agents and becoming a chartered surveyor.
In 1967, Councillor Dennis moved to Hedon where he set up his own business as a chartered surveyor and estate agents, and still lives there now with his wife of almost 30 years, Jennifer. He has two daughters and one son.
His first taste of local politics came in the year 2000 when he was co-opted on to Hedon Town Council and since that time he has held the position of Mayor of Hedon on three occasions, with the most recent post being held in 2014/15.
Since his election to East Riding of Yorkshire Council in 2011, Councillor Dennis was heavily involved in the boundary referendum in 2014 which saw an overwhelming number of residents say no to the proposals by Hull City Council to extend their boundaries into the East Riding.
He has also chaired review panels into Humberside Police and Yorkshire Water’s sewage treatment works at Saltend as well as the renaissance partnerships.
In 2012, Councillor Dennis also put forward a motion to full council asking members to encourage talks with the Government about an affordable flood risk insurance scheme which has resulted in the recent introduction of Flood Re.
He also sits on a number of committees, namely the Licensing Act 2003 committee, standards committee and the overview management committee.
Councillor Dennis said: “It is an absolute honour to be elected chairman of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, particularly as I’ve only been an elected member for a short time.
“I’m incredibly excited about the year ahead and looking forward to representing East Riding of Yorkshire Council and meeting residents and providing them with support and encouragement at all the different events I will be attending.
“I’ve been given this opportunity and appreciate the support of the council and I hope I can justify their faith placed in me.”
The charities Councillor Dennis will be supporting during his year in office are the RNLI and Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
Councillor Caroline Fox, who is ward councillor for Snaith, Airmyn and Rawcliffe and Marshland, has been elected vice chairman of the council and will serve until May 2017.
