Milton Keynes now has a deputy mayor, six months after the appointment would normally have been made.
Bletchley Labour councillor Mohammed Khan has been unanimously elected into the position, which will see him become mayor of the borough in 2021.
The appointment at Wednesday’s full council took place against the backdrop of a standards sub-committee finding that the former candidate Cllr Moriah Priestley had failed to correctly declare her business interests.
Cllr Priestley (Central MK) withdrew her name on Tuesday following the sub-committee hearing the previous Thursday.
Labour, which has the right to nominate the deputy mayor on a rotating basis with the two other parties on the council, turned to Cllr Khan (Bletchley East).
Cllr Khan has been serving on MK Council since a by-election in 2013.
In socially distanced style he placed the chain of office over his own neck with a beaming smile.
His group leader, Cllr Pete Marland (Wolverton) said Cllr Khan had represented his ward with great skill and dignity.
He said Cllr Khan has faced great challenges and he would be a first citizen who is able to bridge divides at a time when that is needed.
“It’s about being a really good person who will serve the city brilliantly,” he said.
“He has managed to get into every single picture taken in Bletchley, and I look forward to him being in every single picture in MK,” he added.
Tory leader Cllr Alex Walker (Stantonbury) said: “He is a genuinely good bloke and he takes office with goodwill from across the chamber.”
Cllr Priestley (Lab, Central MK), who gave her apologies for non-attendance at full council, fulfilled her agreement with the standards sub-committee by writing a letter of apology to the council.
“I understand I have failed to meet the standards expected of me for which I’m profoundly sorry,” she wrote.
Cllr Priestley also said that a “number of serious allegations regarding my financial conduct were made in the media about me.
“I am grateful that all the investigations regarding these allegations have concluded they are without foundation, including in a court of law.”
Cllr Priestley has also been removed from the council’s watchdog audit committee, which was one of the requests made by the standards sub-committee.
