Carol Bower will be next Mayor of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk

Born in Campbeltown in the West of Scotland, her father was a naval officer and so she moved frequently in her early childhood living in several different parts of the country before the family gravitated back to Norfolk, settling in Letheringsett near Holt.

After primary school, she moved on to North Walsham Girl's Grammar School, travelling every day from Holt to North Walsham by train! She represented Norfolk in hockey.

Moving to London, she qualified as a SRN at St Thomas' Hospital, specialising in Renal Dialysis and midwifery. On her marriage, she worked in Devon caring for the elderly, as a special needs assistant, and ran a smallholding, while looking after her two small children.

She returned to Norfolk with her two girls and became residential sister-in-charge of the sick bay at Gresham's School for 13 years. This is where she met her husband Simon, who she married in 1992.

She became a commissioned Officer in the Combined Cadet Force, helped with the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, ran First Aid courses and took up bee-keeping as a hobby.

After this Mrs Bower went to the UEA as a nurse practitioner and, when her husband was appointed as director of music at Edge Grove School near Watford, she was offered a job there starting her teaching career.

Further moves led to her completing her career working in Hampshire, commuting weekly from Hunstanton. Since retirement, she has really loved being able to spend more time with daughters Beth and Kate and their six children.

She is a governor at Smithdon High School, a member of Hunstanton and District Rotary Club and part of the team which runs the Hunstanton Christmas pantomime.

She joined Hunstanton Town Council in 2009, and served as Mayor and Deputy Mayor for almost five years before being elected as a borough councillor. She has served on a number of committees and was the deputy Mayor in 2016/17.

Her charities for the year will be the One-to-One project and the Purfleet Trust.