Ansar Hussain became Bolton's first ever Asian councillor when he was elected in May. As he prepared to celebrate six months on the council he told local government reporter Roger Williams he is determined to act as a catalyst for change.

IF you had told Ansar Hussain this time last year that his name was about to go down in local political history, the Bolton solicitor would have laughed.

He was not a member of any party, nor did he spend his time brooding on the issues of the day. "I had no interest in politics whatsoever," he wryly admits.

What the partner in the Hussain Singh Khan and Co practice in St George's Road, did have was a strong sense of justice and commitment to the interests of the town's 30,000-strong Asian population.

They proved decisive factors when he was encouraged to join the Conservative party just six weeks before this May's council elections. Two weeks later he was chosen as candidate for Derby ward.

History was stacked against him, as inevitably it seemed the piles of ballot papers at the town hall count would be. Derby, after all, had been a Labour stronghold for 32 years.

Yet the 42-year-old said he was gripped by optimism after a warm reception on the doorsteps, both by fellow Asians wishing him well and others eager for change.

He said: "It was amazing how much interest was shown. A lot of people contacted me and said they were very happy I was standing and wanted to support me. I was overwhelmed by it.

"But it wasn't the case that we only knocked on Asian doors. We canvassed everyone and I feel I was supported by a broad range of people."

Just 74 of those voters made the criticial difference on election night as Mr Hussain took the seat after an agonising re-count.

The softly-spoken solicitor began life as a councillor with a pledge to give Asians a voice inside the town hall's corridors of power.

With experience as a defence solicitor at Manchester Magistrates' Court, he has a healthy attitude to keeping political rivalries in perspective.

"You would treat the opposing solicitor as an adversary and try to score points against them and then afterwards go for a meal," he explains.

But he was shocked attending council meetings with outside bodies just how few non-white faces he has encountered.

"The more I get involved in the council, the more I'm convinced that there's a need for a lot more people from the ethnic minorities to take part," he said.

"There are a lot of able people out there and for one reason or another they have been put off getting involved.

"I didn't realise the significance of my election. It took a while to sink in. I'm sure that with me being elected a lot more will be encouraged."

As a schoolboy growing up in Yorkshire, he says he suffered racist jibes but has since been lucky.

He believes the main issue facing the council is not race hate but understanding cultural differences and cites the lack of ethnic minority pensioners in Bolton residential homes as an example.

"They probably feel they won't be looked after because they are not the same religion and some don't speak English," he said. "Their needs are totally different and they need people to be able to cater for them."

Come next year's expected General Election, Mr Hussain aims to play an active role in fighting for another first - the town's first Asian MP as Tory prospective candidate Haroon Rashid takes on Bolton South-east representative Brian Iddon.

Some even tip Mr Hussain as a future Westminster prospect himself.

Six months ago it would have been almost unthinkable. FACTFILE Born in Pakistani Kashmir, Ansar Hussain moved to Britain at the age of seven.

He was brought up in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, before moving to Orlando Street, off Bolton's Manchester Road, at 18.

He studied law at North Staffordshire University in Stoke, qualified as a solicitor in 1983 and started his own practice the following year. His wife Aisha is practice manager at St George's Road.

He has two children Azmeena, 12, and Ammar, eight.