'I was so Scottish when I came to Lancashire, I had to change my accent' new Chorley mayor recalls

However, when the length of his service on the authority dictated that his time had come, he had no hesitation in accepting the honour.

“It never entered my head until it came up last year. Like most councillors, I was there to do the best I could for people and see that things were done right.

“But when [I was told about the mayoralty], I thought, ‘Why not?’ After all, what’s not to like?”

His installation as mayor is also a far cry from his expectations for life in Lancashire when he first moved to the county, aged just nine, from his home city of Glasgow.

Arriving first in Burnley – where his father had got a job in the aerospace industry – a young Alistair found his Scottish roots posed a rather practical problem to settling in.

“Nobody could understand me – so, basically, I had to change my accent. We do talk very fast, [although] I didn’t quite have the broadness of Billy Connolly,” he recalls, in what has become a barely discernible Scottish lilt after a lifetime living in the county.

His heart now lies in Chorley, where he has spent the last 47 years, after becoming captivated by its “vibrant villages, beautiful countryside [and] fantastic history and heritage”.

The 74-year-old says that as well as raising money for – and awareness of – the community groups and charities he has pledged to support during his year in office, he hopes to ensure a fondness for the role of mayor endures through the generations.

“When I filled in for last year’s mayor on a few occasions, I realised how much those older people in Chorley – when you go to the various clubs and associations – really appreciate you coming to see them. They feel highly honoured.

“I’m glad that they think it’s still important, because I don’t think [the post of mayor] is old fashioned at all. It’s just tradition – and it still has a role to play.

“And I’ll work on it with younger people – maybe they [don’t] quite see the relevance of it, but we will certainly meet up with lots of [them], like the scouts, guides and cadets,” explains Alistair, who represents the Chorley North and Astley ward on the council.

When it comes to working with younger age groups, Chorley’s new mayor has plenty of experience, having spent 32 years teaching.

Primarily supporting young people with special needs, Alistair worked for 16 years at Southlands High School in the borough before moving to what is now Myerscough College, in Preston, where he developed new courses for the increasing numbers of students with learning difficulties who were entering further education.

Meanwhile, his connection with Chorley Council – on which he has spent the past decade as the cabinet member for planning, before having to relinquish the role in order to become mayor – long predates his first election success in 2014.

He came to the district in 1978, after completing his teaching training, because his wife, Jane – his mayoress for the next 12 months – had just got a job with the local authority in its landscaping department.

Not long after, when Alistair went for his interview at Southlands, he learned firsthand that Chorley can sometimes be a small world.

“The person who had interviewed Jane was on the panel [for my interview] and the usual question came up of, ‘Why have you come to Chorley?’” he remembers.

When Alistair explained that it was because he was engaged, the mutual connection became apparent – although he insists there was no resultant favouritism.

“[The interviewer] said, ‘Well, that sounds like a very good reason.’

“And so it’s become a bit of a joke [in our family] – but I got that job on merit, I’m quite sure,” he laughs.

Mayoral charities and community groups

During his year as mayor, Alistair will be raising money for:

***Chorley and District Mencap

***Chorley Heritage Centre

***Chorley Fairtrade

***Chorley Shopmobility