New High Sheriff sworn in

Virginia Lloyd, who co-founded a specialist manufacturing business that now employs over 100 people in Elland, near Halifax, stepped into the role during a ceremony at Leeds Crown Court.

Mrs Lloyd, who is one of 55 High Sheriffs serving the counties of England and Wales, said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed as High Sheriff of West Yorkshire.

“I plan to spend my year working hard to promote the duties of this historic role of supporting the judiciary and the institutions that work to deliver justice in our area.

“I will do all that I can to support West Yorkshire in any way that is appropriate.”

She is an active supporter of the arts and is a patron of Opera North. She has taken over from retiring High Sheriff Stephen Davidson.

The Office of High Sheriff is an independent non-political royal appointment which lasts for a single year.

Its origins date back to Saxon times when the ‘Shire Reeve’ was responsible to the king for the maintenance of law and order within the shire, or county, and for the collection and return of taxes due to the Crown.