ANOTHER eventful year at the town hall has passed. Starting 2018 under new leadership, the council slipped into no overall majority by November, helped by the rise of new parties emerging onto the town’s political scene.

On January 1, Cllr Linda Thomas became the fifth leader of the Metropolitan Borough Council in its 45-year history after taking over from Cllr Cliff Morris.

After the Asons Solicitors scandal, after which hundreds of people protested his use of emergency powers to grant £300,000 to the firm, Cllr Morris faced calls to resign long before he handed power over to his deputy.

After 11 years in charge, Cllr Morris received a vote of no confidence from a local Labour group and trade union branch following his support for a councillor at the centre of a tax scandal.

In this centenary year of the Representation of the People Act, which granted some women the vote for the first time, Cllr Thomas became the second female leader of the local authority, following in the footsteps of Barbara Ronson who died aged 75 in October.

Only one week after she took the helm, the council’s new chief executive, Tony Oakman, started the £160,000-plus-a-year job pledging to “make the best use of the Bolton pound”.

The former Dudley Council deputy chief executive took over from Margaret Asquith who retired in March after 11 years at the town hall.

On his first day at the job, he told The Bolton News: “I believe that we can make Bolton an even greater community than what it is today and I look forward to working together to achieve this.”

Ten days later, the council had its first by-election to decide who would take the Hulton ward seat formerly held by Labour councillor Darren Whitehead who died suddenly the previous November.

Conservative newcomer Toby Hewitt won the vote beating his Labour rival Rabiya Jiva with a majority of 276.

After the results were announced, he told The Bolton News of the “tremendous effort” of campaigners which helped him become the second Tory councillor in the ward.

He said: “I’d really love to connect with people, find out what their issues are and then just try to help out and be accessible as a councillor.”

Having started the year with 37 councillors, this loss left Labour with a comfortable majority at the town hall – where 20 wards are represented by three councillors each – but the result was a sign of things to come.

In March, another by-election came around, this time in Farnworth, giving newly-formed party Farnworth and Kearsley First its first shot at an election.

Aimed at getting a “fair deal” for the people of Farnworth and Kearsley, the party which formed six months earlier beat Labour to the seat by 235 votes as newly-elected councillor Paul Sanders was at the centre of a “political earthquake” at the town hall.

On the night, founding member Paul Heslop told The Bolton News: "This monolith of misery has ruled for the last 40-odd years and the people of Farnworth have spoken. Farnworth and Kearsley First is the first and it will not be the last."

Responding to the result, council leader Linda Thomas said she heard the people of Farnworth, adding that it was time to understand and listen to that message.

She pledged to continue the conversation with the people of Farnworth and ask for their views on regeneration plans set out earlier in the year when the township was nominated for the Town Centre Challenge, which is backed by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.

Cllr Thomas said: “When I set out our vision in February, I said that the regeneration of Farnworth town centre is a top priority and that things must move quicker. This was not another promise, this was the starting gun for real and lasting action to turn the future of Farnworth around for good.”

The following month, all political parties were out in force campaigning to contest a seat at the May elections where 21 seats were up for grabs.

Come election night, the Labour party, which was fighting to retain 11 seats, lost five and made only one gain.

As Conservatives made gains in the Breightmet and the Horwich and Blackrod wards, Liberal Democrats gained a seat in Westhoughton South – all previously held by Labour.

Labour made one gain, in Little Lever and Darcy Lever, where UKIP lost the only seat it was contesting.

But the big story of the night was the election of two new councillors in Farnworth and Kearsley, Maureen Flitcroft and Julie Paterson, proving the tremors of the political earthquake could still be felt.

Reflecting on a "fantastic” year, Farnworth and Kearsley First leader Peter Flitcroft told The Bolton News the results at the ballot box “shook local politics to the core” sending a “loud and clear” message to the Labour-run council.

He said: “Our councillors have been fighting to reverse the trend of services continually being stripped away, especially in Kearsley and they are making sure that the statement made by the council leader in February, that ‘Farnworth is a top priority’, will be followed through on. Unfortunately, her statement has a sad ring of desperation and of being too little too late.”

Looking ahead to 2019, Mr Flitcroft predicts the end of Labour’s dominance in the council chamber, promising to assert more pressure to make sure the people of Farnworth and Kearsley get their “fair share” of funding.

He added: “There are many challenges lying ahead. We need to make sure if any development is to take place in Farnworth town centre, that it will satisfy the needs of the people.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the borough, independent town councillors were coming together to form their own party.

In September, they announced that they would form a new political party with plans to run in borough elections under the name of Horwich and Blackrod First Independents.

A combination of six councillors from the two town councils agreed to join the new party with other members belonging to online community groups Horwich First and Blackrod First.

Horwich First Community Group has been a force in the town for four years, and members encouraged Farnworth and Kearsley First to start an online community group to mirror their success on social media.

Speaking to The Bolton News ahead of the announcement, newly-elected leader Marie Brady said the party would give Horwich and Blackrod a strong local voice, putting the interests of the two towns first.

She said: "This will not be to the detriment of other parts of the borough. We recognise we are part of the borough and have a responsibility to other parts of the borough, but our primary responsibility will be to Horwich & Blackrod residents and ensuring they are properly represented."

However, the party’s genesis has been surrounded by mystery as two applications were submitted to the Electoral Commission by unknown individuals trying to form a party with similar names.

This month, it was revealed that the name Horwich First has been trademarked by a Mr John Aherne who lives in Bolton but is unknown to the party.

Using the registered trademark, a website was created claiming to be part of a group created in 2010, three years before Horwich First Community Group was set up by Mick Stevens in 2013.

This confusion means that Horwich and Blackrod First independents end the year without the official party status necessary to run in borough elections under their new name.

Nevertheless, the party’s aspirations are clear. Back in September, Cllr Brady noted that the borough council was moving closer to no overall control. Two months later, her prediction proved to be true.

Having taken a hit at the May elections, Labour’s majority was on a knife-edge, holding 31 out of the total of 60 seats available.

Then, in an unexpected turn of events, a prominent Labour councillor resigned suddenly from the party.

Cllr Debbie Newall cancelled her membership and announced that she would continue as an independent councillor for the Breightmet ward.

It is still unknown precisely why the former cabinet member resigned from the party, but she said it was “entirely personal”.

Her portfolio has been picked up by councillors Thomas and Cunliffe for the time being, with the council leadership seemingly in no rush to recruit a new cabinet member.

At the time, Cllr Newall said: “I’m absolutely certain the borough is in safe hands with the Labour administration. I haven’t got any problem with it, it’s just time for me to move on.”

However, her resignation means Bolton Council ends 2018 in no overall control, relying on her loyalty or the votes of opposition councillors to deliver their agenda.

Reflecting on the year’s events, the council leader said: “People want to know that their vote sent us a message. We have listened and we are doing something about it.

“The poorest areas of our towns in Bolton have been hardest hit from the politically-motivated Tory government cuts. Residents are rightly angry that their money is taken away from services they deserve and pay for - that's £500 less we’ve got to spend on each and every household since 2010.

"What’s left? Over 50 per cent of our controllable budget is committed to the care of thousands of vulnerable elderly and disabled adults, 2,000 children in need and 600 in our care. This means massive pressure for us to be able to fund and deliver other services that people deserve and pay for.

“This was the year Labour fought back by kickstarting the change voters told us they want to see. Since I became leader there have of course been continuing challenges, but I pledged then that the councils’ priority would be to begin to redress the balance in parts of the town which have suffered because of the Tory cuts.

“Our bold billion-pound masterplan has attracted developers and businesses to back Bolton, invest in our derelict brownfield sites and secure future revenue which will help us continue to deliver. The year is a record of delivery and laying the foundations for great strides to be announced across our towns in Bolton in the New Year."