WE now have a new Lord Mayor of Oxford and I’m sure Alan Armitage will do a good job.

However, I have to say that he is going to have a hard job to follow our previous one, Elise Benjamin.

In my opinion she did an amazing job while in office.

She stuck to her Green Party principles all the way and used her bicycle to get to most events which she was required to attend.

Not only that, but what a pretty sight she made with her beautiful hair, cheerfully calling to anyone she knew as she pedalled by.

I’ve had occasion to attend several functions at the Town Hall over the past year, where Ms Benjamin was on duty and the thing which impressed me most about her was that she made time to talk to the ‘ordinary’ people and not just with the posh dignitaries.

Time and again I observed her chatting to the elderly, the children and ordinary folk – even if it meant her staying later than the allotted time. She was always the last to leave.

I am glad that her year in office is over though, because now she will be able to devote more time as a councillor for East Oxford, where she has in the past also worked hard to improve things and had done an excellent job.

PAMELA WEBBER, Bullingdon Road, Oxford