Cllr Madeline Murray calls time in office after 23 years

Madeline Murray has been involved as a councillor since the 1990s, having served multiple executive roles during that time.

Cllr Murray, who first represented Breightmet as a councillor and then went onto Great Lever, will be standing down after the local election in May.

She said: “There have been ups and downs. Things I’ve been proud of, I was executive member for social services when it was all together.

“Then we ended by splitting it up into adults and children. I was then the executive member for children and safeguarding, which encompassed the children’s champion.

“I’ll champion children because they deserve to be heard, I feel quite strongly about that.

Cllr Murray on a recent litter pick with KFC staff members (Image: Agency)

“I was quite heavily involved in the original Voice for You which looked after children and let them have their say.

“That’s gone from strength to strength. That’s the loveliest bit.”

She added: “I think it was 2004 while we were still in, social services as a whole got three stars, I think the first in North West to do that.

“I think my children’s work is my proudest bit.”

She continued: “Hopefully it might encourage other people to stand. It’s a worthwhile job, you get all the heartache and earache and all that, but if you’re strong enough, you know you’re doing it for the right reasons.

“I will miss my constituents, they’re a great lot. It might be a deprived ward, but they’re great.

“They work really hard and they even look after me, they will turn around and say you look a bit tired today, charming!

Cllr Madeline Murray (Image: Bolton Council)

“It’s nice that people make you like family.”

Cllr Murray also made reference to the building of a replacement for Great Lever Library, which was destroyed in a fire in 2018.

She said: “The new building hasn’t happened. It is totally unfair, it is such a deprived ward and doesn’t have a UCAN type building.

“To me, they deserve it, I feel passionate about that.”

Cllr Murray added: “I’m going to just slob, I think! I think I’m going to read books, I miss reading real books, as all we do is read papers because there is no time for anything else.

“I’ll go in my garden, I’m very new to gardening and will probably need some help.”

This comes after the news that Cllr Elaine Sherrington is set to retire after 24 years as a councillor.