AUSTRALIA, psychology and cricket are all subjects close to the heart of the new mayor of St Albans.

Cllr Maxine Crawley was appointed Mayor of the City and District of St Albans last week just three years after she was elected as district councillor for Redbourn, where she currently lives with her husband and two children.

Maxine, 45, grew up in Barnet and was a pupil at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls where, coincidentally, she was taught by an ex-Mayor of St Albans district Jenny Stroud. Maxine, who described her school years as very happy, then went on to study Psychology at university, followed by a post graduate private and executive secretary’s diploma.

Travelling around the world and living in Australia for several months followed before Maxine returned to England and took a job as PA to Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan.

It was when she worked for the London Chamber of Commerce that Maxine met her future husband, Warwick Crawley, whom she married in St Albans in 1993. Attracted to the idea of living just outside London, the pair moved to Harpenden shortly afterwards where their children Megan, 15, and James, 12, were both born.

Maxine, who moved to Redbourn in 2004, threw herself into village life and during her time as district councillor, she has sat on several committees and has also taken on a governing role at St Luke’s, a school for pupils with moderate learning difficulties.

Maxine, who is committed to retaining the charm of the district’s villages, has chosen St Albans Home Start and St Albans Special Olympics as her official charities.

The new Deputy Mayor Cllr Beric Read was first elected as a district councillor in 2002.