A FORMER Kidderminster man has been elected mayor of a West Yorkshire district.

David Hopkins, 68, whose family lived in Birmingham Road, has become the civic head of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council.

He attended St Ambrose RC School and the former King Charles I Grammar School in Kidderminster before his family moved to Scotland.

Mr Hopkins left school without formal qualifications, working, initially, in men's outfitting, then as an insurance agent, before beginning a career in nursing and developing his interest in politics.

He is a qualified mental health and general nurse and worked in Glasgow, Birmingham and Basildon before moving to Barnsley in 1984.

Following various reorganisations, he was made redundant and took early retirement.

Mr Hopkins returned to Kidderminster from Scotland in 1960 to work for an insurance company. He met his future wife, Brigid, at St Ambrose Youth Club.

They were married at St Mary's Church, Harvington in 1967, returning to renew their vows in 1992.

The couple, who have two children and a granddaughter, regularly visit 61-year-old Mrs Hopkins's relatives in Blakedown.

Mr Hopkins first served as a councillor in Wakefield from 1993 to 1995, when he lost his seat but then served as a co-opted member.

He was re-elected to his Wakefield South ward in 1999, becoming Conservative group leader in 2000, stepping down in 2004, when he became deputy mayor.