A CAMPAIGNING former chairman of Leigh Town Council is standing for election to Southend Council.

Carole Mulroney, who served as Leigh Town Council chairman in 2012/13, will stand as Lib Dem candidate for Leigh in the borough elections next month.

She said: “I’m not ditching the town council, but the borough council has a wider remit and takes the decisions at the end of the day.

“That’s where I feel I need to progress. I’ve spent seven-and-a-half years on the town council, so it’s really a natural progression for me.

“I’m interested in getting stuck into a wider range of issues, as they affect Leigh.”

The 62-year-old retired council officer is looking forward to the chance to take on the Tory administration, which attacked the town council for collecting 6,000 signatures against its plan to hand Leigh Library to volunteers last year.

Mrs Mulroney, of Southsea Avenue, used her experience working for Essex County Council in planning, environment and development control as the town council opposed Havens Hospices plan for a new hospice off Belton Way West in 2012.

The mother-of-one, who chairs the town council’s Old Town Community Group and is a member of the Leigh Society and Leigh Heritage Centre, has pledged to fight for the right kind of developments in the old town.

She has been at the heart of the town council’s running of Leigh Community Centre under her chairmanship and she is keen to get stuck into other cultural issues in the town.

Lib Dem leader Graham Longley said: “She will bring a fresh, robust approach to the council.

“She has done well and held the chairmanship, so clearly she is capable and a very strong person to represent the people, if chosen.”

Mrs Mulroney is up against Conservative Bernard Arscott, Ukip’s Pete Chapman and anti-gambling campaigner Matt Zarb-Cousin for Labour. She will replace Lib Dem councillor Barry Godwin, who will stand for election in Belfairs.