A man who describes himself as a “serial rebel” and only stood as a councillor for the first time four years ago has made history in the town he loves.

Stephen Reynolds has just been made Mayor of Penzance for the third year in a row – the first person to do so in 60 years.

In some ways it’s an ironic feat for a man who was previously dubbed the ‘Sheriff of Heamoor’ for leading an attempt to wrestle control of the West Cornwall village from Penzance Town Council. He now heads the very council he fought against during a vital period for Penzance when £21.5-million worth of Town Deal projects will change the face of the town forever.

His leadership comes at a time when, dare I say it, the town is enjoying a renaissance of cool with a fresh injection of young businesses, from Loaf bakery on Causewayhead to Roundhouse café opposite the Pixel creative hub, from Mor Swimmy wild swimming shop on Market Jew Street to Four cocktail bar on Arcade Steps.

For a town steeped in rebellious spirit, it feels like Penzance and the surrounding area has the right mayor to take it on to even greater things.

Not afraid to speak out against Cornwall Council and central government, the role of mayor means far more to Stephen than the donning of robes at events like the Golowan festival (though that’s important to him too).

Speaking in the town’s exchange gallery, Stephen said his continuation as mayor for a historic third term is actually quite helpful for Penzance in 2025. “We’re living in quite challenging times for local democracy and towns like ours. There’s a lot going on in Penzance. A certain amount of continuity is helpful because there’s an extra layer to being mayor at the moment.

“There’s the ceremonial stuff which has a great noble tradition going back centuries and that’s fun and something you to do to represent the community, but there’s also that extra layer of complexity to do with politics with a small ‘p’ and investment activities, so things like the Town Deal, devolution from Cornwall Council, devolution from Westminster to Cornwall, which we’d like to have a voice in, and planning and housing issues.”

He added: “There is a lot of positivity. Penzance like anywhere else in the world has its social media moaners, people who are understandably reluctant to see change in their community, but we are changing and I think changing in a good way. The moaners are really outweighed by all the people who are doing amazing things in the community. The role of mayor is to bring those people together, to give them a voice and some exposure.”

Stephen cites PZN Youth – a Penzance/Newlyn youth club – as one of many community projects improving lives. “It’s an area where young people could face isolation, but now they have a space where they can be themselves and feel comfortable,” he told me.

The mayor walked me to various sites across Penzance which are being revolutionised thanks to Town Deal funding from the previous Government. Now in community ownership, Market House – arguably the most iconic building in the town – will become a food hall (in similar style to Redruth’s game-changing Buttermarket) and town council information hub, all with a restaurant on the top floor.

Just down the road on Market Jew Street, a former Poundstretcher shop will become a bouldering centre – an example of town centre premises being reinvented while retail struggles.

“We’ve got the man who designed the climbing wall at the Parish OIympics to design it, how cool is that?” exclaimed Stephen, while also flagging the renaissance of the old Wharfside shopping centre with food outlets, art galleries and innovative businesses. “That’s becoming the hip end of town now,” he added.

“One of the strengths of Penzance and the surrounding area is that it’s still a multi-faceted community,” Stephen said. “We’ve got three harbours – one of the biggest and most successful fishing harbours in the country at Newlyn, we’ve got Penzance harbour with the service to Scilly, which is also investing, and we’ve got the little pleasure harbour at Mousehole. We’ve got GWR investing in the train sheds. It’s a real working town.

“I always remember Rachel Yates, from Plastic Free Penzance – who’s been a real inspiration to me – talking about Penzance being a ‘gritty diamond’. With the Town Deal projects, for instance, one of the roles I see myself having is always anchoring it to what local people want. These community facilities have got to be places that people who live here 365 days of the year feel comfortable in and feel is their place.”

Originally from Truro, Stephen left Cornwall to go to university, then trained to be an accountant, before moving to France where he switched from being an accountant to a translator. He says his translation work gives him the flexibility to do “all this other stuff”.

His council work started after he originally became involved in community campaigns in Heamoor, when Cornwall Council allocated land for over 800 houses surrounding the village. An opposition group met in the local pub and the BBC wanted to speak to somebody about their campaign. “Motormouth” Stephen got pushed to do it and that’s when public service started for him.

He became known as the ‘Sheriff of Heamoor’ when he led a group of locals in a bid to separate the village from Penzance Town Council’s jurisdiction. It followed disillusion among many residents that the council hadn’t objected to the housing developments despite there being a lot of strong opposition locally.

The mayor added: “That separation didn’t happen, but when the Penzance Town Council election took place four years ago, I thought ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. The council was a lot more aspirational than I thought.

“We already had the Town Deal in place and we had some good councillors, and since then we’ve had James Hardy, who was named Town Clerk of the Year in 2024. It’s all been people who like working with other people, who don’t sit in their corner and throw rocks at each other.”

“The rebel spirit in Penzance and the broader area is definitely there. Having been the ‘Sheriff of Heamoor’ and a serial rebel, I can now go and rattle the cage as the mayor.”