Deputy Lord Mayor of Nottingham - Councillor Rob Lee

Robert Andrew Lee was born in Durnford Street, New Basford on 31^st March 1961, he has two older sisters and had one brother, who was tragically killed in a traffic accident. His parents are also both deceased. Rob first attended Northgate Primary School, New Basford and from there moved to Alderman William Derbyshire School, now known as River Leen School.  He left school at the age of 16 and began working for Weldon & Wilkinson’s Dyers as a Dyehouse Labourer before becoming trained to dye fabrics.  He was made redundant four times, from various textile processing companies during the late 1970s, due to the recession.

Rob then became actively involved with the National Union of Hosiery & Knitwear Workers (NUHKW) and by the age of 19 he was a Shop Steward.  A year later he was elected onto the NUHKW’s District Committee.

In 1984, again facing the threat of redundancy, Rob left the textile trade for good and went to work at Turners Bakery (Sunblest) which was based in Carrington, his reputation as a strong Union supporter followed him and within six months of joining the company he was elected, by members of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, to be their Union representative, Within another year he had been elected to Branch Chair and was elected onto the BFAWU’s District Council.

In 1987, he was transferred to the Van Sales department of the company, working on the road delivering bread across the East Midlands. During his time at Turner’s he managed to pass his LGV C+E (HGV Classs 1) driving license.

In 1997, he was made redundant from Turners due the bakery closing and worked at Asda in Arnold for over a year as Deputy Warehouse Manager, but the attraction of driving Lorries soon became more and more apparent and he transferred to the Asda Depot at Lutterworth in Leicestershire.  The travelling to and fro, alongside shifts made it difficult to carry on working there and in 1999, he started working at British Bakeries in Watnall as a HGV delivery drier, a position he still holds.

Cllr Lee served on the Development Control Committee, the Regeneration, Infrastructure, Sustainability Standing Panel, the Greater Nottingham Light Rapid Transit Committee, of which he was elected chair for 2 years and the Area 2 Committee, which is his most enjoyable committee, as it is about getting things done for the people of Basford, of whom he has a strong affection for.

He served with ‘D’ Company of the Battalion, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters T.A on Triumph Road for a couple of years in the early 1990s.

Rob has been married to Jayn for the past 12 years, having been married previously. Rob has 4 children, Scott who is 23 and is serving with REME in the British Army, Aaron, 20 who is taking a University degree course at New College Nottingham in Graphic Design, Ryan, aged 11 and my only daughter Sian aged 9.

Rob’s interests outside of the City Council are reading, watching movies, following Nottingham Forest Football Club and he is a keen amateur photographer. Rob tries to spend as much time with his family as possible. He also enjoys going into town occasionally on a Saturday night and going ‘clubbing’.

Rob is fiercely proud to be a native Nottinghamian and is immensely proud and honoured to be serving his City in this capacity, and will be following in the footsteps of his Great Grandfather, the late Alderman Walter Halls, who was Deputy Lord Mayor in 1938/39 and Lord Mayor in 19349/40. Rob lives just outside of his ward, on the border between Basford and Bulwell on Highbury Vale.

The Deputy’s Lady

Jayn is 36 and was born in Winson Green, Birmingham, although she spent most of her childhood in Acocks Green, Birmingham. She attended Severne Road Primary School and the Ninestyles Secondary School, both in Acocks Green. She left school and attended Handsworth Tech, where she gained City and Guilds in Motor Mechanics. Jayn was a member of ‘C’ Company the 4^th Battalion, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters T.A in Shirley, Birmingham at the same time that Rob was, although they did not know each other at the time.

Jayn is a Supervisor on the Produce Department at Morrison’s Store in Bulwell, where she has worked for 5 years, having previously worked at Asda Nuneaton and Arnold for over 9 years. Jayn and Rob actually met at Asda Nuneaton, where Jayn was working as a Stock Controller and Rob was delivering to the Store. Jayn is an avid Aston Viller Supporter, for her sins, but has adopted Nottingham as her home City and although she is proud of her Brummie’ Roots she now considers herself a Nottinghamian and loves the City.

Jayn is relishing her role as Deputy Lady Mayoress, and is proud of the honour that is being bestowed upon her. She has been fantastically supportive of Rob’s role on the City Council, even though Politics do not interest her in the slightest.

Jayn’s interests include watching ‘the Villa’ on TV, reading books, and chatting to her friends online. She is also a massive animal lover, particularly of tigers.