Mayor gets his teeth into PR

Swansea Lord Mayor
Richard Lewis in today's
South Wales Evening Post

Richard Lewis is usually happy to be in the limelight.

And that's good news for Swansea Council and the city in general.

It means that his 12-month stint as Lord Mayor is proving to be far from dull.

The councillor has enjoyed a colourful political career spanning several decades and has an eye for the media.

Soon after his May inauguration he was pictured with knotted hanky headgear to applaud Gower's beaches.

Today he's due to visit a conference at the Liberty Stadium, tomorrow an exhibition at the Grand Theatre.

Vampire

And this morning he makes the front of the South Wales Evening Post ... all made up and dressed as a vampire.

On page three, reporter Jason Evans tells us that the County Hall figurehead swapped the council chamber for the crypt to host a Halloween event.

The cellar of his official residence was transformed into a dungeon as around 70 guests enjoyed a fancy dress fund-raiser for charity.

Mood

A funeral home lent the Lord Mayor a coffin and Grand lighting experts helped create the mood.

Charities to benefit included the Air Training Corps and Splash, a project to build a swimming pool for children with special needs.

Happily, the Evening Post praises the effort.

In an opinion piece, they say: "In these austere times, questions are asked about the role and cost of the civic mayoralty. Councillor Lewis is providing some convincing answers."