Your Chance to be Mayor for a Day

If you were the Mayor, what one thing in Wigan borough would you change and why

That’s the question local young people need to answer if they want to take control of the town for 24 hours.

The ‘Mayor for a Day’ competition is being run for the second successive year as part of Local Democracy Week, which will be held between October 15th and 21st. All Wigan Borough residents aged 13 to 19 can enter the competition, which will give one lucky winner the chance to become the borough’s official figurehead for the day.

Last year, 14 year-old Hindley High School pupil Beth Pugh was picked from hundreds of entries to don the mayoral cloak. Beth says,

“I really enjoyed the experience. I was picked up in the morning by the mayoral car, I went to an awards ceremony at the Wigan Investment Centre, a presentation in Haydock and I had my picture taken at Wigan Town Hall. My cheeks were hurting from smiling!

“I found out what the mayor does and I learnt a bit about the council and the role of councillors. I had no idea what to expect from the day but I’d encourage young people to enter the competition because it was a lot of fun.”

LDW is a national campaign run by the Local Government Association which aims to raise awareness about the role that local authorities play. It also aims to encourage more people to get involved in the decision making process at local level, particularly the younger generation.

Wigan Council and its partner agencies have a host of events planned to celebrate LDW this year including an “I’m a Councillor – Get me out of here” online contest and two Question Time events hosted by BBC reporter Dave Guest.

Mayor of Wigan Cllr John O’Brien says:

“Local Democracy Week gives us a real opportunity to raise the profile of local government and the work we do as councillors. It is important that people know what we do and how they can influence the decision making process.

“It is particularly important that we do everything we can to engage with young people, as their participation in local politics is traditionally low. The Mayor for a Day competition is just one way we are trying to do that and I’m more than happy to stand aside for a day if it helps raise awareness. As long as I get my robe back at the end of the day!”

If you want to become Mayor of Wigan for a day, simply answer this question: “If you were the Mayor, what one thing in Wigan borough would you change and why?” and email your answer with your name, age and contact number to linconline@wlct.org Deadline for entries is Monday October 1st.