The sacked librarian hoping to upset Labour in Wigan

It’s a daunting task facing Maureen O’Bern, but one she says she is unfazed by ahead of the July 4 General Election.

Sacked as a librarian in Leigh by Wigan council in 2021, the married 61-year-old is one of 10 independent councillors on an authority with only one Conservative member.

She failed to win an unfair dismissal case but was elected to sit on the council which fired her a year ago and will sit as councillor for Ince ward until 2027.

It was her criticism of the design of the “all glass and metal” Galleries regeneration project in the town centre – against Wigan council’s employment policy – and its decision to allow a Chinese company to invest in the project which led bosses to letting her go.

“I might have been legally wrong,” said the councillor. “But I believe I was morally right.”

Wigan born and the daughter of a miner, Coun O’Bern’s family were staunchly Labour, but she fell out with the party then led by Tony Blair in 1997 because of the Iraq War.

“I haven’t voted Labour since 1997 because of that,” she said. “I think it caused a lot of problems and I became very disillusioned with them.

“I felt they no longer represented ordinary people who have to go out to work every day.”

She admits that to some people she is regarded as a “controversial figure”.

“But I don’t think my views are particularly controversial among ordinary, everyday people,” she said.

Coun O’Bern believes in limits on legal immigration and in “stopping the boats” but argues that her views are not founded on racism.

“When I worked in the library I ran English conversation lessons for young men who had just come into the country,” she said. “I’ve helped a lot of immigrants and there are many who have and are making very valued contributions to society.

“But I don’t think large-scale immigration is good for the country: it’s unsustainable We should be training our own young people to do the jobs that the economy requires.”

The immigration issue is one of the four main planks of Coun O’Bern’s pre-election campaign.

She is also arguing for more social housing and fewer houses of multiple occupation in Wigan, which she says are adding to the shortage of “much-needed” homes.

Meanwhile, Coun O’Bern wants to free up hospital beds at Wigan Infirmary with the creation of an “intermediate care facility” at the nearby Bellingham Hotel, for elderly and vulnerable people.

And she wants a crackdown on “blatant drug dealing” which she says is taking place on the streets of Wigan in “broad daylight”.

“It’s going on everywhere,” she said. “I’ve seen it for myself – a car pulling up right in front of me in my area of Wigan, Scholes and a drugs deal going down. It’s particularly prevalent at Mesnes Park.

“I’m not blaming the police; there just aren’t enough of them. But we’ve lost control of the drug problem. It’s not uncommon to smell cannabis in the streets and in neighbourhoods. It is and should be unacceptable.”

Coun O’Bern admits she has only an “outside chance” of beating Ms Nandy: after all, Wigan has been held by Labour since 1918.

She stood in Leigh and Atherton in 2019 and garnered 551 votes, but is unrepentant andding: “Yes, I’m outspoken, but I think I am only saying what a lot of people think.”