Published at 19:41, Thursday, 15 May 2008

LABOUR councillor Isabel Burns has been installed as Cockermouth’s mayor.

Isabel, 48, has been a town councillor for 26 years.

She is best known for her work with the town’s carnival committee and ran it single handedly for a number of years.

Her mayoress is best friend and carnival committee member Julie Laidlow.

Isabel, originally of Keswick, trained as a nurse at the Dovenby Hall Hospital, from the age of 16.

She was later elected union representative for the nursing staff. She quickly became interested in politics and joined the Labour Party.

About 18 months before Dovenby Hall Hospital was going to close, Isabel took a job at the West Cumberland Hospital at Whitehaven.

She has worked with people with severe, challenging behaviour, with mental health problems or learning difficulties.

She is now a senior community nurse and covers the whole of West Cumbria.

She last served as town mayor in 2000 to 2001.

She has been involved in the carnival committee for more than 20 years and been running for the past six years. She is also a governor at the town’s St Joseph’s school.

Isabel, of Kirkgate, is married to Peter and has a daughter Rachel, and son Daniel.

Outgoing mayor was Sam Standage and the new deputy mayor is Derwent Newton.

Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk