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| Peter Johnston obituary | Peter Johnston obituary |
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| My friend Peter Johnston, who has died aged 72, served as a Labour member of Bolton borough council, in three wards, between 1973 and 2002. His council chamber oratory was supplemented by regular contributions to the letters pages of the local paper, the Bolton News. He was a rugged defender of local citizens' rights and a doughty advocate of council tenants, in particular, against impassive bureaucracy. | My friend Peter Johnston, who has died aged 72, served as a Labour member of Bolton borough council, in three wards, between 1973 and 2002. His council chamber oratory was supplemented by regular contributions to the letters pages of the local paper, the Bolton News. He was a rugged defender of local citizens' rights and a doughty advocate of council tenants, in particular, against impassive bureaucracy. |
| He marched to no one else's beat. He was not quite a hippy, despite wearing shorts at council meetings, not quite a Trot, not quite an outsider and never an insider. And he had no time for the fripperies of office. Brian Iddon, the former Bolton Labour MP, recalled Peter being offered the mayoralty several times during his years on Bolton council. "Thank God he refused," Iddon remarked. | He marched to no one else's beat. He was not quite a hippy, despite wearing shorts at council meetings, not quite a Trot, not quite an outsider and never an insider. And he had no time for the fripperies of office. Brian Iddon, the former Bolton Labour MP, recalled Peter being offered the mayoralty several times during his years on Bolton council. "Thank God he refused," Iddon remarked. |
| Peter was born in Carlisle and brought up by his mother and two great-aunts. He was immersed in music from an early age and was a chorister at Carlisle cathedral. Leaving Carlisle grammar school at 16, he worked as a clerk for British Rail in Derby and then as a manager at a freight depot in Wigan. He had a later career with Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive as a transport planner. At the University of Manchester he took a BSc Econ in politics, followed by a master's. | Peter was born in Carlisle and brought up by his mother and two great-aunts. He was immersed in music from an early age and was a chorister at Carlisle cathedral. Leaving Carlisle grammar school at 16, he worked as a clerk for British Rail in Derby and then as a manager at a freight depot in Wigan. He had a later career with Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive as a transport planner. At the University of Manchester he took a BSc Econ in politics, followed by a master's. |
| But local politics was his passion. In the 1970s he exploded on to the scene in Bolton. Those closest to the epicentre felt the blast particularly hard because Peter did not always change gear between the committee room and the living room. | But local politics was his passion. In the 1970s he exploded on to the scene in Bolton. Those closest to the epicentre felt the blast particularly hard because Peter did not always change gear between the committee room and the living room. |
| I knew him from political theory classes at Manchester University. Peter, a mature student, was then cutting his teeth at Bolton as a councillor and practising a one-man revolution, with choir practice in between. Choral society events were probably the only times Peter agreed to sing from a collective hymn sheet. | I knew him from political theory classes at Manchester University. Peter, a mature student, was then cutting his teeth at Bolton as a councillor and practising a one-man revolution, with choir practice in between. Choral society events were probably the only times Peter agreed to sing from a collective hymn sheet. |
| He is survived by his partner, Margaret Clare; his son Edmund, from his marriage to Margaret Johnston, which ended in divorce; and two grandchildren, Jacob and Hanna. | He is survived by his partner, Margaret Clare; his son Edmund, from his marriage to Margaret Johnston, which ended in divorce; and two grandchildren, Jacob and Hanna. |
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