Councillor David Sandiford was elected as Lord Mayor at a full council meeting on Wednesday October 11.
Speaking as Lord Mayor, Councillor Sandiford said: “This is a real honour. I am delighted to take office as Lord Mayor. I look forward to representing this great city and its residents and to meeting people of all ages and backgrounds from Manchester. I hope to spend my term of office as Lord Mayor paying especial attention to our schools and colleges that are so crucial in ensuring that our young people get the best possible start in life. I want to find out how our young people might be enthused by teaching or training, so that they can enjoy their working lives as lively and enthusiastic members of society.”
Councillor Sandiford was born in Wanstead and educated in Essex at the Royal Liberty School where he obtained a scholarship to Downing College, Cambridge to study Natural Sciences.
He has a doctorate in physics from Yale University in the US. In 1961 he came to Manchester as an academic member of the physics department of the then Victoria University of Manchester and he has been in Manchester ever since, apart from sabbatical years as a visiting professor.
During one such stay in 1968 in Connecticut, he met his wife Christine, who is Lady Mayoress. David and Christine have two daughters, Jennifer and Elizabeth.
During his time at Manchester University, Councillor Sandiford was a member of the university court, council, and finance committees. He served for three years as Manchester president of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and he was also elected to the national executive of the AUT. His research interests were in semiconductors, superconductors and superfluids. He is a founding editor of the Manchester Physics Series of university textbooks, published for more than 35 years.
David Sandiford was first elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor for Withington ward in 1979, and he has been a Didsbury councillor since 1999 and now represents Didsbury East ward. He has been a member of numerous committees including Physical Environment and Children and Young People scrutiny committees, both of which he chaired.
Councillor Sandiford has a particular interest in his council duties in education and in finance. He has been a governor of a number of schools including Didsbury CE Primary School, which his two daughters attended and Trinity CE High School where he chaired the finance committee.
In 1992 he helped as Hon Treasurer to found the Diamond House Trust, a charitable trust whose purpose was to establish a home for three young adults with challenging physical and learning disabilities. The home was successfully launched in Northenden with the help of the City Council and Mosscare Housing Association.
David was the chair of the Withington Association, the forerunner of the Withington Civic Society. He was for a number of years a member of Mosscare Housing management committee where he chaired the Audit committee. David was a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, a one-time member of its council and a vice-president. He is also a sidesman at St James Church, Didsbury.
The Lady Mayoress was born in California, but spent most of her early life on the East Coast of the US earning degrees in physics from Smith College in Massachusetts and Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She has been a long-time voluntary worker at the Citizens Advice Bureau both in Wythenshawe and Withington. She is very active in her local church and the Deanery of Withington. She was recently licensed as a Reader in the Church of England. Both David and Christine enjoy visiting art galleries in their free time.
