Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council
Type
Type	Cabinet-style council
History
Founded	1 April 1974 (1974-04-01)
Preceded by	14 councils
Leadership
Mayor of Wigan	Marie Morgan, Labour since 26 May 2022
Leader of the Council	David Molyneux, Labour
Chief executive	Alison McKenzie-Folan since 6 March 2019
Structure
Seats	75 (38 needed for a majority)
Political groups	Administration   Labour (61) Opposition parties   Conservative (7)   Independent (7)
Joint committees	Greater Manchester Combined Authority Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Crime Panel
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	2019 (one third of councillors) 2021 (one third of councillors) 2022 (one third of councillors)
Next election	2023 (Full Council)
Meeting place
Wigan Town Hall United Kingdom
Website
wigan.gov.uk

The Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in the United Kingdom. It consists of 75 Councillors with one-third being elected every three years in four. The borough is separated into 25 wards. Councillors are democratically accountable to the ward they are elected to represent. Each ward is represented on the council by three council members.

Council members by ward

This is a list of the current Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Offices
Abram		Eunice Smethurst	Labour	Chair of Confident Council Scrutiny Committee
		Martyn Smethurst	Labour	Chair of the Children and Young People's Services Scrutiny Committee
		Carl Sweeney	Labour	Lead Member for Youth Opportunities
Ashton		Jenny Bullen	Labour	Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Children and Families
		Danny Fletcher	Labour
		Anthony John Skyes	Labour	Vice-Chair of Confident Council Scrutiny Committee
Aspull, New Springs and Whelley		Ronald Josef Conway	Labour	Chair of the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Committee
		Laura Flynn	Labour
		Christopher Ready	Labour	Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Communities, Public Relations, Corporate Land, Community Assets and Culture Chair of Honorary Aldermen Nominations Committee
Astley Mosley Common		Christine Lillian Roberts	Labour
		Barry John Taylor	Labour	Vice-Chair of the Confident Places Scrutiny Committee
		Paula Wakefield	Labour Co-operative	Lead Member for Equalities and Domestic Abuse
Atherleigh		Mark Aldred	Labour
		John Harding	Labour
		Debra Susan Ann Wailes	Labour
Atherton		Stuart Andrew Gerrard	Independent Network
		Jamie Hodgkinson	Independent Network
		James Paul Watson	Independent Network
Bryn		Andrew Francis Collinson	Independent
		Sam Flemming	Labour
		Sylvia Wilkinson	Independent
Douglas		Shirley Dewhurst	Labour
		Pat Draper	Labour	Vice-Chair of the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee
		Sheila Rosaleen Ramsdale	Labour
Golborne and Lowton West		Susan Gambles	Labour	Portfolio Holder for Housing and Welfare Chair of the Housing Advisory Panel
		Yvonne Klieve	Labour	Mayor of Wigan
		Gena Merrett	Labour
Hindley		Paul John Blay	Labour	Vice-Chair of the Licensing Committee, and the Regulation Committee
		Jim Ellis	Independent Network
		James Talbot	Labour
Hindley Green		Bob Brierley	Independent
		John Vickers	Labour
		Vacant
Ince		David Trevor Molyneux	Labour	Leader of the Council and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Regeneration Chair of the Establishment (Ad Hoc) Committee
		James Moodie	Labour	Lead Member for Leisure and Public Health
		Janice Sharratt	Labour
Leigh East		Keith Cunliffe	Labour	Deputy Leader of Wigan Council and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care
		Fredrick Bown Walker	Labour
		Vacant
Leigh South		Kevin Anderson	Labour Co-operative	Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Police, Crime and Civil Contingencies
		John O'Brien	Labour	Chair of the Confident Places Scrutiny Committee
		Charles Rigby	Labour	Chair of Audit, Governance and Standards Committee
Leigh West		Dane Anderton	Labour	Vice=Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee
		Samantha Brown	Labour	Sitting member of the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee
		Susan June Greensmith	Labour	Vice-Chair of the Planning Committee
Lowton East		Marie Cooper	Conservative
		Edward Noel Houlton	Conservative
		Kathleen Houlton	Conservative
Orrell		Marjorie Clayton	Conservative
		Steven Lyn Evans	Conservative
		Michael Winstanley	Conservative	Leader of the Conservative Group
Pemberton		Jeanette Prescott	Labour
		Paul Prescott	Labour	Portfolio Holder for Planning, Environmental Services and Transport
		Eileen Winifred Rigby	Labour
Shevington with Lower Ground		Janet Brown	Shevington Independents
		Paul Anthony Collins	Labour	Vice-Chair of the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Committee
		Michael John Crosby	Labour
Standish with Langtree		Adam Marsh	Conservative	Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group
		Debbie Parkinson	Labour	Older Person Champion
		Raymond Whittingham	Conservative
Tyldesley		Stephen John Hellier	Labour	Chair of the Planning Committee Chair of the Licensing and Regulation Committees
		Joanne Marshall	Labour	Lead Member for Greener Wigan
		Nazia Rehman	Labour Co-operative	Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Finance, Resources and Transformation
Wigan Central		George Davies	Labour
		Lawrence Hunt	Labour
		Michael McLoughlin	Labour
Wigan West		Phyllis Cullen	Labour
		Stephen Dawber	Labour
		Terence William Halliwell	Labour	Lead Member for Heritage and Building Conservation
Winstanley		Paul Terence Kenny	Labour Co-operative	Lead Member for District Centres and Night Time Economy
		Clive William Morgan	Labour	Lead Member for Armed Forces and Veterans
		Marie Morgan	Labour	Deputy Mayor of Wigan
Worsley Mesnes		Patricia Lynne Holland	Labour
		David Hurst	Labour
		William Rotherham	Labour

Cabinet

Eight councillors are appointed to the cabinet who are each a 'Portfolio Holder' for an area of responsibility. (Such as 'Portfolio Holder for Environment').

Portfolio	Current Holder	Notes
Executive Leader	David Molyneux	Responsibility for policy direction, finance, partnership working, external relations within Greater Manchester and at national level, the performance of Cabinet Members and of Leader Members, and implementing the "Deal for the Future" policy.
Deputy Leader	Kieth Cunliffe	Responsible for supporting the Executive Leader.
Economic Development and Regeneration	David Molyneux	Responsible for transportation, delivery of future housing, infrastructure, economic development and skills and green infrastructure needs.
Children and Families	Jenny Bullen	Responsible for issues and services for ages ranging from 0 -19.
Housing and Welfare	Susan Gambles	Responsible for Wigan and Leigh Housing, chairing the Housing Panel, and Council Welfare Policy
Adult Social Care	Keith Cunliffe	Support for older people and adults with disabilities and for their carers and ensuring vulnerable groups feel safe and protected and that their welfare is promoted. Enhancing self-reliance, improving life opportunities and independence.
Planning, Environmental Services and Transport	Paul Prescott	Responsible for operational delivery of services, including waste collection/disposal, street scene, highways, transport provision, building maintenance, school catering, environmental protection, and environmental health and licensing. .
Communities, Public Relations, Corporate Land, Community Assets and Culture	Chris Ready	Building Self Reliance, Strengthening Communities and Communications.
Police, Crime and Civil Contingencies	Kevin Anderson	Responsible for Police and safety, with the aim at reducing crime.
Finance, Resources and Transformation	Nazia Rehman	Responsible for improvement and efficiency, and transforming the way the council works and serves its customers, providing joined-up, ‘connected’ services in a customer-focused environment, and adopting the ‘one team, one council’ theme.

Deaths in office

• On 28 January 2013, Barbara Bourne, a representative of Pemberton since 1996, died in office following a long term illness. She was responsible for a long campaign for a new medical centre, which was opened in the area of Kitt Green, in 2010.

Local election results

Main article: Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council elections

See also

• County Borough of Wigan
• Deputy Mayor of Wigan
• Mayor of Wigan
• Metropolitan Borough of Wigan

External links

• Official website