The Mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is the

first citizen ''Princeps'' (plural: ''principes'') is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, foremost, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person". As a title, ''princeps'' originated in the Roman Republic w ...

, Chairperson of the

Wigan Council The Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in the United Kingdom. It consists of 75 Councillors with one-third being elected every three years in four. The borough is separated into 25 war ...

and elected representative of the Wigan Borough and the Council.

Duties of the mayor and its origins

The mayoralty of Wigan goes back to its first creation in 1246 AD, when Henry III granted the town its first

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

; however, since 1974 the office of the mayor has been created by

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

of the Constitution of Wigan Council (Article 5, Section 1). The Mayor of Wigan as the 'First Citizen' has highest precedence unless a member of the royal family is present. As the elected representative of the borough, the mayor acts as focal point for the community as well as promoting the borough and forging national and international links, which includes continuing links with the Mayor of Angers in Western

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as the twinned city. The official position of the mayor and the council includes presiding over the meetings of the council, of which, if the mayor is unable to preside at the time, it is the duty of the elected deputy mayor to temporarily take his place. Wigan Town Hall in the centre of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

serves as the official location where the office of the mayor is located and also serves as the location for meetings of the council in the main chamber. The Town Hall of Leigh is often used by the mayor and other councillors as a second headquarters. The position of the Mayor is politically neutral and so even though the Mayor remains Chairman of the Council, the Council assembly elects itself a Leader of the Council who will also chair the Wigan Cabinet. The Office of the Mayor is located in the Wigan Town Hall were the Council Chamber is also located. When in office, other duties include receiving members of the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

and other state visitors, attending ceremonies and engagements of charities as representative that take place within or out of the borough. The Mayor also leads the service on

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at the

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

of Wigan Town Centre in November. The longest continuously serving Mayor of Wigan was Stephen Dawber, who served two consecutive terms as Mayor from May 2019 to May 2021, due to the inability of Councillors to meet to select a new Mayor in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Current mayor

The 49th and current Mayor is Councillor Marie Morgan, who was elected by the council general assembly and officially inaugurated on 26 May 2022. She succeeded Councillor Yvonne Klieve, who served from 26 May 2021 to 26 May 2022. Mayor Morgan's consort is her husband and follow Councillor, Clive Morgan, Councillor for

Winstanley Winstanley may refer to: People: *Alan Winstanley, British record producer *Bill Winstanley, English footballer who played for Stoke City *Dean Winstanley, English darts player *Eric Winstanley, English footballer *Gerrard Winstanley, 17th-century ...

Succession, deputy mayor, mayoress and consort

The

Deputy Mayor of Wigan {{Infobox Political post , post = Deputy Mayor , body = Wigan , insignia = Coat of arms of Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.png , insigniasize = 140px , insigniacaption = Arms of Wigan Borough Council , image ...

is elected by the council assembly as second citizen who assists the elected Mayor and their consort in their duties. The deputy mayor is also first in succession to the mayoralty. The current deputy mayor is Councillor Michael McLoughlin. Traditionally if the incumbent is a gentleman, the wife of the Mayor would take the title of Mayoress of Wigan. However, when a female Mayor is elected, her husband would assume the role of Mayor's Consort.

Charity appeal

Traditionally the Mayor of Wigan can choose one or more charities to support throughout their year in office.

Style and title

The Mayor of Wigan is entitled to the style of " The Worshipful" however the style is only used when referring to the office rather than the holder and is not retained after they have left office. The Mayor is referred to in speech as "Mr. Mayor" and if a female councillor is in office they are referred to as "Madam Mayor". The full title of the current Mayor is: ''The Worshipful The Mayor of Wigan Council, Councillor Marie Morgan''

List of mayors of Wigan

(note: * = deceased)

References

* http://democracy.wigan.gov.uk/documents/s1266/2.5%20Article%205%20-%20Chairing%20the%20Council.pdf * https://web.archive.org/web/20120505064643/http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy/Mayoralty * http://www.wigan.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/66534D13-E181-4BF6-BFF3-F05FC46600DC/0/Mayorcharitryleaflet.pdf {{Lists of Mayors in the United Kingdom Metropolitan Borough of Wigan

Greater Manchester-related lists