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Politician quits after 20 years
PRIVILEGE: Mike Onyon and his wife Gwen who are leaving Preston for the Midlands
A councillor has resigned after 20 years serving the people of Preston - but has vowed not to turn his back on his beloved football team.
Mike Onyon, who represents the Cadley area of Fulwood, wants to spend more time with his family in the Midlands and will be moving south.
But the 62-year-old is keeping a firm grip on his Preston North End season ticket and hopes to return for as many games as possible.
However, his decision, taken before he was due to retire in 2012, means there will be a by-election, probably in September.
Today, school inspector Mike, who was also head of St Leonard’s CE Primary in Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, said: “I’m very sad to be moving on. It’s been a privilege to represent the people of Cadley.
“I’ve not been able to get rid of my Preston season ticket so I will be travelling up from time to time.
“The thing I’ll look back on with the most fondness is that I made a close association with lots of people in Cadley and ideas they’ve had, we’ve been able to bring to fruition.
“I’ve always enjoyed life as a councillor. It’s a real opportunity to help people to get things done.”
Having sold their house in Manor Court, Fulwood, keen golfer Mike and wife Gwen, 60, who retired as headteacher at Witton Park High School in Blackburn last week, are now living in Grimsargh, near Preston.
They hope to move to Alvechurch, near Birmingham, in the next three weeks. Their son Richard, a hospital consultant, and solicitor daughter Sian already live in the area, along with two grandchildren.
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Comments
There are 11 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Al Batros
Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 07:47 PMI know nothing of Mike Onyon but it's unfortunate he's moving on at a point when the new government is putting together a plan of which there is mainly speculation and worst cases are being tossed about. A local election in September is classically badly timed and can only cause maximum trouble. Also the report says he won't let go of his season ticket and further down says he couldn't get rid of it. I've just spent a few days in Solihull and was surprised that it has quite a large, attractive, new and prospering shopping centre with only one empty shop and seemed a nice area. To be honest it made me think am I wasting my time in the north west when even places I'd normally think aren't so good look better. So maybe he's seen it as well. Then again maybe Tithebarn will save Preston.
River
Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 11:28 PMUnlike you YankeeBravo, I'm confident that there will be a resistance movement against these cuts, just as there has been in Greece and Spain. Some councillors do have spines. Try googling 'Clay Cross 1973'. We need some of that spirit today.
Yankeebravo
Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 04:37 PMWE are talking about the reorganisation of local government - apparently having been distracted from the issue of the article (i.e. another lIb Dem resigning). Whereas YOU, River, appear to be thinking that the reorganisation of local government and the cuts imposed, equates to annexation of France by the Nazis. As brutal as I think that these cuts will be, and as much as I am opposed to the Tories and Lib Dems, I think that the analogy here is a little 'on crack'. By your rationale, you are expecting councillors to vote against cuts, only to see central government appointed auditors come in and do the same thing anyway. Following your arguement to its 'logical' conclusion (and that's a stretch) then presumably you would want the opposing councillors at that time to hide in the Bowland Forest and form a resistance movement.....I'm not coming back to this article ever again, because it (like you River) has lost the plot. Suffice to say that a) the cuts are bad, the Tories and Lib Dems do not need to implement them at either the speed or scale that they are doing b) Mike ONyon resigning is going to cause a by-election that could have been avoided, and is the Tories to lose, and c) River, you're bonkers...I mean completely, totally, bonkers.
River
Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 03:13 PMThe Vichy government 'adapted to the new situation'. If councillors inflict cuts on us, they inflict cuts on us, whatever party they belong to, and whatever clever excuses they give themselves. If they had any courage or honour, they would refuse to infllict these wounds.
Yankeebravo
Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 02:59 PMCouncillors can lead a camapaign against the cuts yes, but they can't actually stop them. If the government cuts the central funded grant then there's no money - unless they try and raise council tax by significant amounts, which, under govenrment plans, means it would have to go to a referendum (which in itself wouldbe £70,000 cost to the local council). You would have to find some way of adapting to the new situation, not simply closing your eyes and oding the political equivalent of saying 'There's no place liek home'.
River
Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 11:32 AMCouncillors are responsible for the way they vote, and if they vote to inflict cuts on their neighbours, they should be held accountable by their neighbours. Councillors are seen as leaders in their communities. They are well placed to lead a campaign against these cuts, if they're prepared to make a brave stand against the government. The reality is that most councillors will meekly vote through the cuts and try to blame the government for their actions. This is not leadership, this is collaboration. Others, not wishing to dip their hands in the blood, will quit. That's not leadership either.
Yankeebravo
Friday, July 30, 2010 at 07:21 PMI agree with FB below in that councils are effectively agents of national government. Their legislative rights are dictated by national legislation; i that regard they will always be run 'centrally' regardless of the latest 'localism' that is in place. So it follows that yes, councils will be forced to undertake massive sweeping cuts to their services, if the goverment so rules. However, none of that means that the cuts are justified, which I think is River's point. Time is running out for stopping these cuts; too many people are agreeing with a policy that in the longer term will decimate social and community support. I hope that they realise, before it is too late, that there is an alternative way of doing this. Otherwise, I think that councillors will have to be very creative about how they adapt to the cut backs.
FatB@stard
Friday, July 30, 2010 at 06:25 PMRiver shows a very simplistic and naive view of politics...if councillors refused to implement the cuts, the council would very quickly head towards brankruptcy as spending outstripped revenue...no government would allow a council to get to such a point, so they would install auditors to run the council. Who wants bureaucrats making the decisions...there's enough of that already. The answer is to have councillors who will spend the money on the people and not on more bureaucrats or by shoring up the ailing private sector that got us into this mess in the first place.
Diesel10
Friday, July 30, 2010 at 03:49 PMHow very magnanimous of you - "even Tories and LibDems" - goodness me, and theres me thinking they did it for the free lunches or purely to give socialists something to rant on about.
River
Friday, July 30, 2010 at 11:44 AMI don't blame Mr Onyon for quitting now, in fact it's a very wise decision. Most councillors (even Tories and LibDems) take on the job because they want to make life better for their local community. However the cuts that the government will be now asking our councillors to make will make life so much harder for everyone, and particularly for the old, the sick and the poor. Some councillors will wield the axe with ideological glee, despite the pain it causes their neighbours. Some councillors will aquiesce quietly, hoping noone realises the damage to the community their votes are inflicting. Some councillors will quit, not having the stomach for this brutality. A very few councillors will stand up for the people they represent and refuse to implement these cuts. Which kind of councillor do you want?
Yankeebravo
Friday, July 30, 2010 at 10:41 AMAnother by-election? What on earth is going on with the Lib Dems? Surely he knew that he would be retiring before the May election – has he just decided to up and leave now though? Seems a bit peculiar. If I were being cynical, I would guess that he has resigned now so that a by-election will time with the Lib Dem conference in September. This is yet more cost to the tax-payer to pay for this (what is it, about £5000 to hold a by-election each time?). At least when Jack Davenport jumped in Riversway he timed the by-election for the same day as the general election (although I suspect for electoral reasons as much as anything else, but at least no one was paying extra for it). This is the second by-election in as many months by the Lib Dems – wonder if they'll display a bit more humility after the battering they got earlier this month in the Riversway by-election. Speaking to some friends I got the impression that Libs thought that they had it in the bag. Cadley area is the kind of seat the Tories could (and should win) – it's theirs to lose really, given the lack of popularity for the Lib Dems at the moment. I wonder how far the Tory and Lib Dem deal making goes though; will the Tories have the guts to stand against their coalition partners? Labour can just have a shot I guess and hope for the best – don't think they'll get their expectations too high, but you never know in the so called 'silly season'. Could be an interesting election this one.
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