THE chairman of Bolton’s UK Independence Party has decided to step down ahead of the branch’s annual general meeting this week.

Joan Johnson has overseen a dramatic growth in party membership since she was elected into the position in 2013 and saw the branch become the first in the region to get members elected the following year.

Mrs Johnson was disappointed not to become an elected member herself after standing in Hulton at this year’s election but remains proud of a job she took on following the death of her husband Neil.

She said: “I had never intended to become so involved with the party. My husband Neil was one of the first to stand as a parliamentary candidate in Bolton in 2010.

“After he passed away I was contacted by someone in the party who ended up asking if I was interested and it went from there.

“I am very proud of how far the party has come from a time where group meetings would involve between three and eight members turning up to now when we often have 50.”

Historically there had been a fledgling Bolton branch of UKIP but the early party split when the now failed Veritas Party was formed in 2005.

Following this, meetings took place in various Bolton pubs from time to time and a handful of UKIP members, including Mrs Johnson’s late husband Neil, carried on raising interest locally.

A formal UKIP branch was re-launched in 2012, but it was at the 2014 local elections that it hit the headlines, taking two seats on the council through Paul Richardson in Little Lever and Diane Parkinson in Hulton.

Mrs Johnson said: “Our main aim was to get councillors elected to make a difference in the council chamber and I am delighted that we have done this”

The party underperformed at this year’s local elections, with former Labour councillor Sean Hornby the only success, landing a seat in Little Lever.

Mrs Johnson said: “I had hoped we would get more seats but I think the fact it was a General Election changed things because people are more likely to vote either Conservative or Labour.

“I was also disappointed not to be elected in Hulton myself, because I thought we had a very good chance.”

But Mrs Johnson said she would look back fondly on her time as chairman and will remain a member of the party.

She added: “I do think I am coming out of the job on a high in terms of how far we have progressed and I hope my husband would be proud of what we have achieved.”

A new chairman will be elected at the AGM this Thursday.