HE was the former cafe owner who last year became the first UKIP councillor in Greater Manchester.

Now Paul Richardson has completed a staggering rise up the party ranks after being named the new Bolton branch chairman.

Cllr Richardson — once just a thorn in the side of Labour councillors in Little Lever as a local resident and business owner — took on the politicians at their own game standing for election for UKIP in 2014.

The grandfather-of-17, who until recently ran the Village Tea Room in Little Lever, was approached by UKIP in late 2013 as a "prominent local voice".

Just six months later he had pulled off a shock win in the ward ousting Labour’s Maureen Connell — and was quick to stir things up both in the town hall and within his own party.

He reportedly fell out with then party chairman Joan Johnson — who stepped down last week — over controversial Facebook comments he made about women in the cabinet.

And he has also been a fierce critic of Bolton Council's proposed revamp of the town hall as well as the University of Bolton's plans to build a student village on Cheadle Square.

The party’s annual general meeting this week saw the 69-year-old rewarded for his outspoken style as members voted him in as their new chairman.

Cllr Richardson said: “We are now re-organising with a view to being more successful on a broader front in the 2016 local elections as well as keeping in view our prospects in 2018 for success in what would seem to be at the moment un-winnable wards.

“It is our view that without removing the Labour majority on Bolton Council, the prospect for the future of the town is more decline and more dismantling of our proud heritage. 

"We have already removed two long standing Labour councillors and have our eyes on shifting two or three more next year.

“Underpinning our approach to everything is our belief in the strengthening of local democracy and the value of each elector’s vote. 

“We have a great deal of work in front of us which I can assure electors will be pursued with dedication and enthusiasm.”

The father-of-seven said the branch has worked hard to counteract the “mistaken perception” that UKIP is a far-right party.

He added: “Our every aim and policy has been in the direction away from segregation towards integration and a single cohesive Bolton community blind to differences in faith, culture or ethnic origin.”