Residents of Bolton decided on Thursday 2nd May that they wanted change and they did this by electing 7 new councillors from 4 different parties. These parties have decided to remove Labour from power and put in place a Conservative leader and cabinet led by priorities set by the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Farnworth and Kearsley First, UKIP and Horwich & Blackrod First Independents.
This will mean above all a culture change at Bolton Town Hall. It will mean more engagement with those towns such as Westhoughton, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley, and Blackrod, that have felt largely ignored by Bolton Labour. Local councillors will now play a much bigger role in helping to shape the investment going into district centres and local facilities.
It will mean councillors that don’t belong to the party of the executive will scrutinise the Executive’s decisions, unlike under the previous Labour administration when Labour Councillors scrutinised decisions made by their own ruling Labour group.
It means a commitment to investing in Bolton’s crumbling roads and infrastructure, with local councillors taking the lead in deciding which roads take priority.
Whilst the Council will be Conservative-led, there was much common ground on how the Council should move forward with many shared aims and priorities. The new Executive will be operating on priorities set by 5 of the 6 parties in a spirit of working together which we believe the people of this town expect from the multi party council they elected.
David Greenhalgh, Leader of the Conservative Group commented, “This a real opportunity to show that Bolton is not a one party town, that other parties and voices have a say in how this town is run and operated. The Asons scandal severely rocked the town’s faith in its own council and its councillors and its time to rebuild trust and confidence. We will take seriously the task in hand and work tirelessly in a collaborative way to try and solve the many challenges the town faces”.
