Eddy Arram is the new Mayor of Croydon - the first Jew to hold the post. The south London borough's second-longest serving councillor has represented the Tories for 32 years. He said it would be "a very proud moment when the robes go on".
Councillor Arram, 64, is a case worker for Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell. He previously spent 18 years as an office manager for Lambeth Council and fulfilled a similar role at the United Synagogue HQ.
One of his proudest civic moments was during his chairmanship of the libraries, museums and arts committee from 1986-94, when the council built a state-of-the-art central library in the town hall. "That project will go on my tombstone," he said.
One of his mayoral charities will be the local branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society - "I have seen the devastation the illness causes and the heartache for carers." The other will be the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families' Association.
For his social worker wife, Judith, 67, mayoral duties run in the family. Her father, Jack Westbury, served as Mayor of Lambeth in 1970 and was president of the London Mayors' Association.
The Arrams are members of Catford and Bromley Synagogue.