Chapter 16: 1972-1973

Deputy Mayor & Mayoress of Blackpool

How on earth did it come about that I became a Councillor and then Deputy Mayor ?

At the age of 21 I qualified as a Chartered Accountant, and thus all the time that I had spent studying now became free time.

 

For the last 5 years I had studied four nights a week, ran Cubs/Scouts one night, and played football Saturday, Sunday and sometimes Wednesday afternoon. Now I was a free man.

 

One of my best friends at that time was Joe Oliver who was also studying for Accountancy. We had met at Blackpool Tech where we spent an afternoon each week on an Accountancy Course.

 

Joe had an ambition to be Prime Minister, and loved speech-making competitions.  He did a really good Churchill impression.

 

It was logical that Joe had joined the Young Liberals, who met upstairs at the Victoria St. Liberal Club, Blackpool. Having more spare time I decided to join just for a bit of fun.

 

They ran quizzes, social events, debating competitions etc. Joe organised the debates and I organised walks, night hikes etc.

 

Having been in a motor accident Joe had delayed taking his “finals” in  Accountancy. However, he was keen to stand for Blackpool Town Council as the first step towards political involvement.

 

So here we were, me with time on my hands and Joe with ambitions. We decided to approach the then Liberal Agent, Bill Ellams, to seek permission to contest a Ward in Blackpool that had not been contested by the Liberals for some time.

 

We decided upon Stanley Ward, which covered an area roughly the same as “Marton Moss” including Highfield Rd East to School Rd and beyond. Market Garden Country.

 

Three Councillors represented the Ward and they sought re-election on a three year cycle. The idea was that I would break the ice by intensive personal canvassing and that the following year, when he had finished with exams, Joe would take over as candidate.

 

The existing Councillors for the area were well known “Mossites” and included  Coun. George Baguley and Alderman Albert Ashworth.

 

Reputation had it that if you nominated a pig with a blue ribbon round its neck it would win.  Anyway, come the election, George Baguley won, I was second, the Ratepayer candidate third, and Labour fourth. 

 

My share of the vote was surprisingly high and it was anticipated that the following year I would try again. However, in line with our agreement I stood down to allow Joe to be candidate. There was a swing against the Liberals and Joe also lost.

 

That was me finished with Local Council Politics!!!  Or so I thought!!!!

 

During the next 10 years or so, I became involved, as an Accountant, with the finances/payroll etc. of the Liberal Club, who had a licenced club on Waterloo Rd, South Shore, Blackpool. I also got to know, and act as Accountant to, a number of Liberal Councillors.

 

One of these was Edmund Wynne.  Edmund was quite an entrepreneur, running a Soft Drinks Works and a Photo Development Company at Squires Gate Industrial Estate, taking over the running of Blackpool’s Car Parks, and generally having a go at anything that took his fancy.

 

Over this period I was in close touch with Edmund on a regular basis. He was leader of the Blackpool Liberal Party for a number of years, until, following a falling out, he decided to stand as an Independent Candidate.

 

On Polling Day Marjorie, friends, and myself, got a team together to help with canvassing, cars on Polling Day, etc. Edmund was duly elected as an Independent Councillor.

 

The following year we followed the same procedure and his wife Nancy was duly elected.

 

Three Councillors represented each Ward. When the third year, 1970, came around Edmund asked me to consider standing. I was somewhat reluctant, as Politics had never been my thing.

 

However, the fact that I could stand as an “Independent” sounded a bit more interesting.  So! I stood and was elected.!!  

 

Polling Day was hectic and fun with friends and family trying to round up, and transport, our supporters, with myself stood outside Roseacre School all day, being our local Poll Station.