The Mayor's Office
The Mayor of Swale
The Mayor of Swale, Cllr Karen Watson
Karen was born in Hampshire, adopted at 6 weeks and brought up in Surrey. She attended school in Redhill and at 18 left home to begin her nurse training at Epsom District Hospital. After sustaining an injury, she joined the Home Office for 2 years.
She has over 25 years of experience in charity retail both as a volunteer and paid staff. She is currently a volunteer at Cancer Research in Sittingbourne and does fundraising for the charity, completing a 5k for them last year.
Karen is married with 3 children, one of whom is on the autistic spectrum and she has an interest in campaigning for more resources for families. Her youngest child attended The Sittingbourne School and is now at Royal Holloway University where she is studying English.
First elected as a Swale Borough Councillor for Roman Ward in May 2023, Karen is currently a member of the Health, Housing and Community Committee as well as Sittingbourne Area Committee.
She is also a member of the Pathfinders group which aims to raise and address the concerns of people with dementia.
Karen is very interested in history and books and could probably open her own library with the number she has!! She is very passionate about trying to encourage more people, especially children to become interested in history. She is also very proud of her Irish heritage and women’s issues particularly around domestic violence.
Her Chosen Charities for her Mayoral Year are SATEDA and Cancer Research.