The key people of Dunstable assembled in the town hall in May 1955 for the election of the borough Mayor.
That year the honour was bestowed, for a second term, upon Alderman W.H. Robinson, owner of a well-known hardware shop in High Street North. He is seen in the photo standing behind the mayoral mace.
This scene was captured by a Dunstable Gazette photographer who must have been halfway up the stairs which led to the town hall balcony, overlooking High Street North. The town hall, demolished in 1966, contained the official council chamber on its second floor, but this would have been too small for the mayor-making ceremony so chairs and tables were assembled in the large hall downstairs. Many of the special guests, including schoolchildren, are seen sitting on the town hall stage.
To the mayor's left is the previous mayor, Alderman Ben Scott, owner of the garage which once stood next to Priory House, on the site now occupied by new shops which include Cash Converters and the KFC fast-food restaurant. Sitting on the right of the Mayor, in a formal wig, is the town clerk, Mr Jack Smith. The council's chief officers sit around the table in front of the mayor including the borough surveyor, Mr R.F. Carrington, who is pensively resting his chin on his hands. Directly behind him is one of the most distinguished of Dunstable's councillors, Alderman Harold Parrott, owner of the Parrott and Jackson cardboard box firm in Dunstable. Ald Parrott was one of the few people to be made a Freeman of the Borough of Dunstable.
The small table near the wall is the space allocated for the Press. The two journalists hard at work there include (under the fire extinguisher!) the then editor of the Gazette, Mr John Lewis.