Local officials including the new town mayor are 'weighed in' as part of a historic ceremony unique to High Wycombe.
Outgoing mayor of High Wycombe Arif Hussain, his newly appointed successor Paul Turner and MP Steve Baker mounted a set of 17th century scales yesterday (May 20) as part of an a historic tradition unique to the town.
The 'mayor making' ceremony was first held in 1678 to measure whether local officials had overindulged themselves over the past year at the taxpayer's expense.
High Wycombe is the only town in the UK to annually honour the tradition, which is met with cries of 'And some more!' or 'And no more!' depending on how the local officials' weights compare to last year.
Some aspects of the custom have died out however - 'boos' and the pelting of rotten fruit and vegetables were originally thrown at those deemed to have "gotten fat" from the public purse.
Outgoing mayor Cllr Arif Hussain and incoming mayor Cllr Paul Turner were the first to be weighed in a large pair of scales outside the Guidhall.
They were followed by local officials including conservative MP Steve Baker, who took to Twitter to declare "victory" after his weigh-in was greeted with cries of 'And no more!'
The weighing ceremony followed the annual general meeting of the Charter Trustees of High Wycombe, during which Cllr Turner was officially elected as mayor for the upcoming year alongside his new deputy, Cllr Nathan Thomas.
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