Introducing the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor
Councillor Matt Fisher has been elected the Mayor of the City and District of St Albans and will support two local charities during his year in office.
He was made Mayor for 2026/27 at the Annual Meeting of the Council on Wednesday 27 May with Councillor Juliet Voisey becoming Deputy Mayor.
Mayor Fisher, who succeeds Cllr Teresa Heritage, will raise money for St Albans Sea Cadets and Youth Talk.
The theme of his civic year is Belonging Through Service, reflecting his belief that volunteering and environmental action can help build stronger and better-connected communities.
Mayor Fisher has been a District Councillor since 2023 and represents Clarence ward. He is the City’s 482nd Mayor with the first appointed in 1553.
He will chair Full Council meetings and represent the City at a variety of events, often involving voluntary groups.
Mayor Fisher said:
It is a profound honour to serve as Mayor. This role is not simply about tradition — it is about people, community and service.
One of the greatest strengths of our District is the extraordinary number of people who quietly give their time and energy to support others every day.
I want this year to celebrate those people and inspire even more residents to get involved in their communities.
To charities and community groups across the District, I say please invite me to your events, so I can highlight your work and promote my theme of Belonging Through Service.
Mayor Matt Fisher
Matt grew up in Frinton-on-Sea, on the east Essex coast, and was involved in community litter picks and environmental projects from an early age, efforts that earned him a Green Blue Peter Badge.
He volunteered for the Sea Cadets, becoming the Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet for Essex and being named Best Sea Cadet in Britain.
Following his A-Levels, Matt took a gap year as a teaching assistant at a boarding school in South Africa in the years following the end of apartheid. He travelled extensively across Africa, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and developed a lifelong passion for photography, adventure and humanitarian work.
He began his professional career as a harbour master before joining Essex Police and later trained at Britannia Royal Naval College to become an officer in the Fleet Air Arm.
He trained as a helicopter pilot at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall and was also involved in anti-piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa.
After leaving the armed forces, he co-founded a photography company and travelled to Ethiopia with Project Harar, documenting facial reconstruction surgery for children affected by Noma disease.
Matt is also a Hertfordshire County Councillor for St Albans Central and is the Environment and Neighbourhood Officer for London Colney Parish Council.
He is an endurance athlete and has completed multiple Ironman events including one that involved a a 7.2-mile swim, 336-mile cycle and 78.6-mile run completed back-to-back in 66 hours with just 20 minutes of sleep.
His wife Ayasha, a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Nurse, will be his consort for the year.
Deputy Mayor Juliet Voisey
Juliet has been a District Councillor since 2023 and represents the St Peters ward.
Born In Croydon, her childhood was spent in West Wickham, Kent, before she graduated from Swansea University with a BA in English Literature and Latin.
She has lived in St Albans for 20 years, initially working as a project manager, and is married to Darren with whom she has three boys.
When her children were young, she retrained to become a childminder so that she could be at home with them.
Juliet was a long-standing member of St Michael Primary School’s PTA and is passionate about the need to care for the environment.
She has campaigned with the pressure group Greenpeace since she was 15 and runs the local branch.
Juliet also monitors wildflower areas for Butterfly Conservation, helps with community garden projects, assists with a local bike bus scheme and organises community litter picks.
She enjoys beekeeping, working on her allotment, cooking plant-based food and walking her “crazy spaniel” Luna.
The Mayor’s charities
Youth Talk provides free counselling to young people, aged 13 to 25, throughout the District to help improve their mental health and wellbeing. You can find more information about them here.
St Albans Sea Cadets helps young people experience a wide range of activities such as sailing, windsurfing and rock climbing to give them confidence and prepare them for later life. More information is available here.
Pictures: top, Mayor Matt Fisher; below, Deputy Mayor Juliet Voisey.
Contact for the Mayor’s office: Alison Orde, the Mayor’s Civic Officer, 01727 819544, mayoralty@stalbans.gov.uk.
Media Contacts: www.stalbans.gov.uk/news-and-whats.