South Tyneside mayor bows out after wonderful year in office having loved every minute

As part of South Tyneside Council’s annual meeting on Tuesday (May 13, 2025), tributes were paid to councillor Fay Cunningham, Boldon Colliery ward representative, for her work as mayor in 2024/25.

It was the second time that Cllr Cunningham had served as Mayor of South Tyneside, after previously holding the position in 2014/15, and Stella Matthewson acted as her mayoress once again.

After passing the ceremonial chains to her successor, councillor Jay Potts, at the annual meeting of council this week, tributes were paid to Cllr Cunningham’s work in the borough.

Labour councillor Alison Strike, Boldon Colliery ward colleague, said Cllr Cunningham had “done the borough proud” and had been a “great ambassador”.

“Both Fay and Stella have carried out their civic duties with style, with dedication, with professionalism and a bit of fun thrown in along the way, and they have always got a smile for everybody,” she said.

“They are, like I said last year, our own golden girls with more energy and tenacity than anyone half their age, they have carried out hundreds of civic appointments over the past year.

“As well as attending events, they have invited so many residents, children, schools and groups into the town hall and Fay has personally given guided tours, because what Fay doesn’t know about the history of this town hall isn’t worth knowing”.

Cllr Strike added Cllr Cunningham and her mayoress had done a “fabulous job over the last 12 months” and wished them well for the future and a “well-deserved rest from civic duties.”

Cllr Cunningham thanked council leader Tracey Dixon for the opportunity to serve as mayor “not just once, but twice” and wished the new Mayor and Mayoress of South Tyneside (Cllr Jay Potts and Audrey Huntley) well.

“What an absolute honour it is and what an absolutely wonderful year we have had,” Cllr Cunningham said.

“We invited more than 1,500 citizens of South Tyneside into this town hall […] you cannot do that amount of work without having an absolutely amazing team behind you.

“Our civic team is just without exception […] to invite that number of people into this town hall and show everybody in South Tyneside that we do try to be transparent and do try to be a welcoming council, it takes a massive amount of effort.

“It’s down to our porters, our events team who set up the rooms and even to Angie, our tea lady, who has served at least 1,600 cups of tea and juice to the children, absolutely amazing. Thank you so much to our team, they’re exceptional.

“I’ve often thought one of the duties that you have to carry out as the mayor is to visit local authorities, particularly within the Tyne and Wear area, and to be honest I at first thought that you didn’t get much from it, however, I have had to actually eat my words.

“The networking you do and the ideas that you exchange are absolutely invaluable and if my two years of mayor has taught me nothing else, it’s that we’re a small authority but we certainly fight above our weight.

“When I say we, I mean both sides of this chamber and I also want to include our totally committed officers who are there at our sides […] I couldn’t have done this either without my bestie Stella and my mayoress who has been by my side.”

Cllr Cunningham said her chosen charities for her second year of office supported autistic children and special educational needs children’s services, dementia and Alzheimer’s services in South Tyneside and South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade.

“We haven’t totalled it up totally but I think we have raised about £20,000 and that is amazing,” she added.

“So colleagues, for every raffle ticket you have bought, every event you have attended, every copper you have put into the bucket, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

“All that remains for me now is to wish Jay and Audrey the very best of years and to thank Tracey again for giving us this amazing opportunity and to thank all of you on both sides of the chamber because you all have both supported Stella and I.”

Independent councillor John Robertson, who previously clashed with Cllr Cunningham when she was chairing heated full council debates in 2024/25, thanked the outgoing mayor for her “patience”.

“I would like to thank you on camera because you have been very patient and I think you could have put me out the chamber a lot more times and I have never done a vote of no confidence in you,” he said.

“Thank you very much for the year you have done, you and Stella.”

The annual council meeting was broadcast live on South Tyneside Council’s YouTube channel and is still available to view here.