THE new mayor of Bolton will be sworn into his new role today.

Cllr Roger Hayes will be formally elected to the position at the council’s annual meeting at the town hall this morning.

The 73-year-old has stepped down as the long-serving leader of Bolton’s Liberal Democrats to become the town’s first citizen, a post he has previously declined due to his party responsibilities.

And while accepting the non-political will limit his involvement in the General Election campaign, Cllr Hayes says he is excited about being Bolton’s 44th metropolitan borough mayor.

He said: “I am very much looking forward to the inauguration and it should be a very interesting year.

“I had thought this would be a good time to step back from politics for a while, then the Prime Minister called a General Election.

“But it will be a unique experience for me to be looking at everyone going on at the election from an outside perspective.”

The Lib Dem leader post has now passed to Cllr Andrew Martin, who was the only choice for the role due to Cllr Carole Swarbrick — the third of the Lib Dems’ Smithills councillors — being suspended from the party fro 18 months.

Cllr Hayes was first elected to the council in 1984 and, after taking a two-year break, returned to the council chamber in 1998.

His wife, Jaleh, will serve her second term as Bolton’s mayoress, having also fulfilled the role for Cllr Swarbrick two years ago.

The couple will be greeted by residents at the annual civic service and parade, which will be held on Sunday afternoon.

Cllr Hayes, who is originally from Cheltenham and moved to Bolton in 1973, added: “I look forward to meeting all of the community groups and charities that the Mayor is involved with.

“Some people have been a bit confused between the role of the civic mayor here and the new elected mayors, so I explain that I will just be a figurehead and they are the ones who have the power.

“But the civic mayor remains important. You never know what royal visits or other events we might have.

“I remember very well when we had the Queen come to Bolton and awarded Nat Lofthouse the freedom of Bolton in consecutive years.

“It would be wonderful to be closely involved with an event like that.”