Manchester's new Lord Mayor takes office

Posted: 18/05/2022

An unsettled childhood including more than 20 homes, and more than a dozen schools hasn’t deterred Cllr Donna Ludford from pursuing a career of public service.

The newly appointed Lord Mayor of Manchester will take children to her heart as a focus for her year in office – in the Manchester City Council Year of the Child.

“One of my key priorities is to focus on young people that are in the care system. As a care leaver myself I believe we can work with this sometimes-forgotten community and ensure that they receive support from Manchester City Council,” she said.

Born on 31 January 1969 at the Duchess of York Hospital, Manchester, Donna was placed into Manchester’s care system at the age of just six months following a major accident involving both her parents.

Growing up, the adults in Donna’s life didn’t always treat her well  and the negative surroundings of home and school life resulted in her leaving school without any qualifications or hopes for the future.

At 24, she left a bad marriage with her two young children, but despite adversity and with a will to achieve and provide for her children, she took a part-time job as a cleaner at Manchester City Council in the mid-1990s.

She went on to become a caretaker, a volunteer youth worker, and an educational support worker with Manchester Pupil Referral Unit where she discovered a passion for working with children struggling with their education, particularly looked after children and the most vulnerable in society.

Becoming a councillor in 2013, her aim was to help residents and make sure they had a voice.

Donna and her husband Sean have raised four children in an inner-city area and Donna says she is ‘honoured and humbled to have been elected Lord Mayor’.

“Manchester has been my home for my whole life. It is where my children and grandchildren live and I’m passionate about making the city better for future generations,” she said.

“I’ve worked at Manchester City Council since the mid-1990s, where I started as a cleaner. I love the city and have been here for its key moments. I’m excited to take my position as Lord Mayor and be involved at the heart of the council.”

Donna will be supported by her husband and consort Sean McHale, also a Manchester City councillor.

Image credit: Manchester City Council