Spotlight on Prestwich: Prestwich Councillors

Reporter: Kevin Burke
Date online: 01 October 2010

As part of Bury Focus’ Spotlight on Prestwich this month we thought it would be interesting to give readers an insight into the life of Prestwich’s councillors, reporter Kevin Burke has been doing some research to find out what makes them tick.

Mary D’Albert represents the St. Mary’s ward, and has been married to Victor D’Albert, a Holyrood representative, for 30 years.

She is also a project manager for Warwick Network Ltd, a small company who perform computer services. She previously worked for a paper merchant in Radcliffe and decided to become a councillor when her daughter, who is now 21, went to Sheffield University to study Philosophy, giving her more free time.

She’d been involved with the Liberal Democrats for over 20 years and says she’s “always been” one.

With the rest of her time, she and her husband like to travel. “We’ve got a border collie,” she said, “and we take her with us. So we travel in this country.” They’ve gone to Newforest, Suffolk, Somerset, and many other idyllic resorts.

She also likes football, her favourite team being Manchester United.

She is eager to see the completion of the redevelopment of the Longfield Suite and is always pleased with the carnivals and festivals that recently happened. “I love Prestwich,” she said.

Wilfrid Davison, or Wilf to his friends, is a Holyrood councillor who originally comes from Liverpool. He’s a big sports fan, controversially supporting Everton F.C.

He is a shareholder in Bury F.C. and sees them play regularly. He likes more than just football, however, and goes to see Sedgley Tigers Rugby Club and Prestwich Cricket Club.

He’s deeply interested in Bury Hospice and is a member of the Bury Hospice Development Committee, encouraging the development of a new hospice. He is also chairman of the council’s planning control committee. He is chairman of two school governing bodies and the Pupil Learning Centre in Summerseat, which provides for children with emotional, social and behavioural difficulties.

Mr Davison has 5 grown up children and has always been political, but after retiring from his other jobs he decided to focus on becoming a councillor.

“I’ve always wanted to be in the council,” he said. “I’ve been interested in politics since 1958 and I’ve stood for parliament 4 times.” Three of these times were in the 1970s - twice in Doncaster and once in Liverpool.

Mr Davison took early retirement in ’94 but then became a consultant until 1997. During this time, in 1996, he finally realised his dream of becoming a councillor. He stood again for MP in Bury North in 2005, where he lost to David Chaytor.

Councillor Davison was the Mayor of Bury in 2003-04 he said: “I particularly enjoyed this year.”

Does he enjoy being a councillor as much as he thought he would? “I love it,” he said. “I get on well with all the other councillors. I don’t bear grudges and I’ve no hang ups with the other parties. We’re all councillors for the same reason, we all love the town and try to make it the very best in which to work live and socialise.”