Getting to know our New Mayor and Deputy

Welshpool Town Council has elected Councillor Revd William Rowell as Mayor of Welshpool and Councillor Morag Bailey as Deputy Mayor for the 2026–2027 municipal year.

The appointments were made at the Annual Meeting of Welshpool Town Council held last Wednesday.

Councillor Revd William Rowell was elected to the Town Council in 2024 and currently serves on the Events and Planning Committee, Finance and Governance Committee, Health and Safety Committee and the Tour de France Special Committee. He is also leading the Council’s work on litter and footpath projects.

Councillor Revd Rowell, better know as Bill, was elected to the Town Council in 2024 and currently serves on the Events and Planning Committee, Finance and Governance Committee, Health and Safety Committee and the Tour de France Special Committee. He is also leading the Council’s work on litter, fair trade and footpath projects.

Outside of his Council duties, Bill is a Governor at Ysgol Gymraeg y Trallwng, a member of Welshpool Rotary and Rotaract Clubs, an allotment gardener, a published poet and a member of three local choirs. A retired priest, his ministry has included service within St Asaph, Lichfield and Hereford Dioceses. He continues to write a monthly “Nature Notes” article for the local church magazine Serendipity.

He and his wife Ann celebrated their golden wedding last year, and have four children and four grandchildren.

Following his election, Cllr Rowell said: “It is an honour to have been elected to this office, and I am grateful to my colleagues for placing their trust in me.

“I will continue to be as genuinely independent and open to all opinions as I can be as a councillor, and to encourage a spirit of respect and co-operation within and beyond the Council Chamber.

“I pledge both to promote Welshpool to the best of my ability, and to work with our excellent Town Clerk and staff, Cllr Bailey as Deputy Mayor, and colleagues both on the Council and elsewhere to the benefit of our town and all who live here, use its facilities and come to visit.”

Councillor Bailey was elected Deputy Mayor having first joined the Council in 2024, and serves on the Events and Planning Committee and Health and Safety Committee, whilst chairing the Finance and Governance Committee.

Raised in Welshpool, Morag has spent her career working in social housing. Her extensive experience includes serving as Chair of the Chartered Institute of Housing West Midlands Region, as a Board Member of Mid Wales Housing Association and, prior to retirement, as Head of Continuous Improvement at Wrekin Housing.

Morag is also an active volunteer at the Welshpool Community Hub and serves as a Governor of Welshpool Church in Wales Primary School and as a Panel Chair at the Valuation Tribunal for Wales.