Long serving community champion, Councillor Debbie Parkinson was recently welcomed into post as the borough’s new ceremonial mayor by outgoing Mayor of Wigan Councillor Kevin Anderson.
She takes up the post alongside her fellow Standish and Langtree ward member Councillor Terry Mugan who is her consort. Councillor Jenny Bullen will serve as deputy mayor.
Wigan & Leigh Hospice Chief Executive Jo Carby, and Chair of Trustees Sheila Fisher was also in attendance at the ceremony, representing the hospice as one of her two chosen charities alongside family mediation service Talk First.
Councillor Debbie has volunteered as a voluntary bereavement counsellor at the hospice for 13 years and is an authorised lay minister of St Wilfrid’s Church in Standish. She was first elected to Wigan council in 2019 and after being re-elected in 2023, she was appointed as Wigan’s ‘Older Persons Champion’.
She told fellow council members:
“I am thrilled and privileged to stand here as the elected mayor of Wigan borough.
“I wouldn’t be here without the unwavering support of my family, colleagues and council officers. I am grateful to the leader [of the council Councillor David Molyneux] for the faith that has shown in me. I am committed to the borough with honesty and integrity. I promise to represent the borough to the best of my ability.”
Wigan & Leigh Hospice wishes the new Mayor of Wigan Borough a wonderful year and we are looking forward to working alongside her in the future.
