French village elects English mayor for first time in history: 'She's a breath of fresh air!'

The 71-year-old's triumph came despite a challenging campaign in which opponents labelled her "l'Anglaise" and argued that a foreigner had no place leading the community.

However, residents have warmly embraced their new mayor, with Alain Cogez, 75, saying: "We're very happy to have an English mayor."

He added: "She's been a councillor for years. She replaced the previous mayor when he was ill, so we know her well. We like her, and she's devoted to this community."

Local nurse Amandine Kayndaszyk, 33, was equally enthusiastic: "Who cares that she's English? She's a breath of fresh air."

Mayor Searle has called Mont-Saint-Éloi home for more than a quarter of a century, during which time she has mastered the French language so completely that no trace of her English accent remains.

"It took me 12 years of practising in front of my mirror to get rid of it," she explained, noting that her mother was Dutch.

The new mayor works from an office in the village hall, a former presbytery that doubles as the local post office. "Overnight, I became Madame la Maire, but I say to everyone, just call me Maureen," she told The Times

Before taking on the full-time mayoral role, Searle worked as a pharmacist in nearby Arras and taught English at a school four miles from the village.

In a nation where millions protested against raising the retirement age to 64, she remains committed to working. "People tell me that this shows my roots are English," she said with a laugh.

Brexit forced Ms Searle to make a difficult choice: abandon her council seat or become a French citizen. She chose the latter, embarking on two years of paperwork followed by an oral examination on French language and culture.

The test proved unexpectedly lengthy. While other candidates completed theirs in 25 minutes, Searle's examination stretched beyond ninety minutes.

Officials explained the extended scrutiny was because she had indicated her intention to remain on the council. "Madame," they told her, "we don't give the Republic to just anyone."

One question nearly derailed her application. Asked to name a figure from the Siècle des Lumières, she answered James Watt, mistaking the Age of Enlightenment for something related to electricity. "I should have said Voltaire or Montesquieu, but they passed me anyway," she recalled.

Ms Searle stood as an independent candidate, refusing to disclose her political leanings. "I'm here to improve life for the village. I don't want to get involved in party politics," she said.

Among Ms Searle's immediate priorities is securing funds to restore the church bells, which have fallen silent after ceasing to chime on the hour and half-hour.

Roughly half of the village's 1,017 inhabitants are retired professionals from Arras, yet none wish to see the bells permanently quietened. "People say they can't sleep without them, and some rely on them to tell the time," she noted.

The role has already brought unexpected nocturnal duties, including relocating a cow from railway tracks and attending the scene after a copper wire thief severely electrocuted himself.

France maintains approximately 35,000 elected mayors, each with budgets, legal powers and councils of at least seven members. Britain, by comparison, has merely 27 elected mayors alongside numerous ceremonial positions.

Ms Searle and fellow Briton Nic Breese, newly elected mayor of Loudet in southwest France, are not the first British mayors.

Ken Tatham served Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei in Normandy for 19 years until 2014.