Controversial former council leader Cliff Morris is to be granted one of Bolton’s highest civic honours at a council meeting next week.
Mr Morris, who led the then Labour council for 11 years until 2018, will become a Honorary Alderman of the borough of Bolton at the full council meeting on Wednesday, October 6.
Mr Morris, who is 79, represented the ward of Halliwell from 1983 until he stood down from the council prior to the elections held in May this year.
Between 2003 and 2004, he was appointed the ceremonial Mayor of Bolton.and also became the leader of the Labour group in 2004.
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An Honorary Alderman is purely an civic title recognising a person’s commitment to the borough.
It originates from the historic aldermen who were generally unelected local people who sat on the council alongside elected councillors.
That was done away with by the Local Government Act 1972 but councils can bestow the title on individuals who have represented the town over a long period of time.
The first order of business on the council meeting agenda for next Wednesday’s meeting is signed by the council’s chief executive, Tony Oakman.
It reads: “Members of the council are hereby summoned to attend an extraordinary meeting of the council to be held in the council chamber at the Town Hall, Bolton on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 7pm for the transaction of the following business.
“To confer the title of Honorary Alderman of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton on Mr. Clifford Morris.”
Mr Morris stepped down as leader of Bolton Council on December 31, 2017 with his deputy, Coun Linda Thomas taking over.
In 2019, the council went to no overall control with the Conservatives leading a minority controlled council after reaching agreement with smaller parties.
The latter years of Mr Morris’s time as leader were full of controversy.
In the weeks prior to him stepping down, Coun Morris faced calls to resign from members of his own party and key union figures.
The Bolton West Constituency Labour Party passed a vote of no confidence in his leadership, following a dispute over Coun Morris’ support for a fellow councillor at the centre of a town hall tax scandal.
He was also involved in a row over a controversial £300,000 handout to a law firm amid swingeing cuts to services Bolton.
In December 2016, protests were held outside Bolton town hall as residents called for Coun Morris to step down after his decision to hand Bolton-based law firm Asons a grant to help it open a new office.
The decision was taken using ‘emergency powers’, meaning it was not discussed in public, prompting anger from many residents and opposition councillors.
At the time Coun Morris said he would not resign, insisting he had done nothing wrong.
He insisted the decision was made to ensure a large company remained in the town centre, that the council has helped other businesses in the past and measures were in place to recover the cash.
