Sevenoaks Town Council has a new Mayor.

He is Cllr Nicholas Busvine OBE, who received his Mayoral chains and robes from outgoing Mayor Cllr Roderick Hogarth at the town council's annual meeting this month.

Cllr Busvine spent his childhood in Kemsing and Sevenoaks.

He was educated at Sevenoaks School and at St John’s College Cambridge, where he studied economics and law.

He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1982 and for the next 29 years served as a diplomat in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. His final overseas post was to the Embassy in Baghdad during the height of the war in 2006/7.

Cllr Busvine was appointed OBE in 1994 and retired from public service in 2011.

He is now a partner in a London-based advisory company.

He has been a Sevenoaks Town Councillor since 2012.

He is married to Madeleine who teaches at St Thomas’s primary school. Madeleine will be the Mayoress. They have three daughters at local schools. His hobbies include walking and cycling through the Kent countryside. He is also a keen glider pilot.

The Mayor's chosen charity for the civic year will be SSAFA, supporting the Armed Forces family.

He has a hard act to follow in Cllr Hogarth. He and his wife Mary, as Mayoress, attended hundreds of engagements in the town.

During his year of office Cllr Hogarth raised thousands of pounds for charity including £16,600 for Sevenoaks Powerchair Football, £2,700 for Sevenoaks Day Nursery, £2,700 for a 3G rugby pitch at Knole, £2,700 for the Stag Theatre and £2,450 for and Alice’s Ark.

Cllr Busvine will be supported by the new Deputy Mayor, Cllr Dr Merilyn Canet.