MORE than five decades after the formation of Camden Council, the first black woman to serve as mayor of the borough is due to take the ceremonial chain.

Sabrina Francis, one of only three black women to have ever been elected to the Town Hall despite Camden’s proudly diverse make-up, will make history next week.

“When people told me I would be the first, I said ‘can we double check?’, because it seems very strange for this borough,” she said. “It feels strange but I am very aware of the people who came before me.”

Cllr Francis was referencing specifically the late Jerry Williams, Camden’s only previous black mayor in 1988.

“I must have been three when he was mayor, but it was probably much harder for him,” she told the New Journal.

“I’m always aware that if you are the first, or an ‘only’, or different in some way, people will respond to you differently – so for me it’s going to be about being the best I can be, doing as much as I can.

“Because if someone isn’t particularly nice, all it would take is possibly one mistake and they’ll be like ‘oh, black mayor…’ I don’t want to give anyone any reason to not have another black mayor. I want to be the first of many.”

She added: “Is this a Camden issue or a national issue? I don’t know how many local councillors look like me, nationally. “That’s part of a bigger problem in terms of there not being a pipeline to get people into local government – and all the fun that that entails.”

But she warned it was “exhausting” always to be talking about race in the context of struggle and campaigns.

“It’s only when you see the life being drained out of someone that it becomes an international issue – it’s wearing to always have to consider your humanity in this way,” she said. “We don’t talk much about black joy – and that’s why I’ve had the most glorious days seeing the swell of joy around Daniel Kaluuya winning his Oscar.”

She grew up close to the actor in Camden Town.

“You just know everyone around the roads, and he was another kid that you’d see walking to school,” she said. “So it’s incredible for him.”

Jerry Williams was Camden’s only other black mayor, pictured with the late Frank Dobson  

During her year as the mayor, she will be fund-raising for Gingerbread, a charity based in Camden that works to support single-parent families.

“I will be breaking the stigma around single parents in a very public way,” she said.

“I’m old enough to remember – and I guess even if we think about the recent past – the way single parent families were portrayed negatively in news stories, even on reality TV shows.

“It wasn’t great. We will be showing that they are just like healthy, happy families. It’s not a moral failing to be in a single-parent family.”

She added she will also be visiting businesses as they try to bounce back from the virus crisis.

“You can’t miss the boarded-up shops and restaurants,” she said. “The hospitality industry is close to my heart. My mum has worked in it for ages [at the Lord Stanley pub in Camden Town].

“Independent businesses need as much help as they can get now, so I’ll hopefully be raising awareness.”