It’s sink or swim in civic vote race
Reporter: Jim Williams
Date published: 08 January 2016
THE FRIDAY THING: MOST of the liquids we had to contend with over the Christmas holidays were more “flood watery” than the warm and tasty variety.
Parts of Delph, Uppermill, Greenfield and Grotton were affected but in many ways were fortunate that flood damage was nowhere near as severe as in other parts of the region. Spare a thought for the man who had to SWIM across his living room to retrieve his slippers.
Away from the power and fury of the floods, Oldham Council has lost Jim McMahon to a plush seat in Westminster, with some speculation that the new leader will be long-standing local councillor Dave Hibbert.
Dave sees himself as a pocket battleship — a councillor who has long been outspoken on many issues.
I am told he is ready for battle, even though you might have to look around quite a bit before you spot him in the crowd of his council chamber colleagues.
Not surprisingly, after an often outspoken and fiery approach to local politics, Dave will probably have at least as many political foes as he has friends.
One “fan” suggested, perhaps more than a little unfairly, that he is perhaps old enough to be Jim McMahon’s grandad. But make no mistake: there’s plenty of life in his yet.
Most Viewed News Stories
- 1The primary school where pupils ‘take on leadership roles’ and teachers ‘are proud to work’
- 2Eight talented Oldham dancers gear up ahead of making a dream appearance in Swan Lake
- 3Warning as major bus stop relocated and drivers asked to ‘arrive as late as possible’
- 4Voters in Oldham have their say on the borough’s knife-edge election
- 5Brook retain trophy as they head for treble