Librarian sacked in hopes of upsetting Wigan Labour

She is an independent election candidate fighting to beat the odds in the safe Labor seat of Wigan and displace one of the brightest stars in Sir Keir Starmer’s front bench – Lisa Nandy. It’s a daunting task facing Maureen O’Bern, but she says she’s not fazed ahead of the July 4 general election.

Sacked as librarian in Leigh by Wigan council in 2021, the married 61-year-old is one of 10 independent councilors in an authority that has just one Tory member. She failed to win an unfair dismissal case, but was elected to serve on the council that fired her a year ago and will serve as an Ince ward councilor until 2027.

Her criticism of the ‘all glass and metal’ town center gallery regeneration project – against Wigan council’s employment policy – and her decision to allow a Chinese company to invest in the project led bosses to fire her give up “They may have been wrong legally,” the aide said. “But I think I was morally right.”

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Born in Wigan and the daughter of a miner, Coun O’Bern’s family were staunchly Labor but she fell out with the party then led by Tony Blair in 1997 over the Iraq war. “I haven’t voted Labor since 1997 because of this,” she said. “I think it created a lot of problems and I became very disappointed with them.

“I felt it no longer represented ordinary people who have to go out to work every day.” She admits that for some people she is considered a “controversial figure”.

“But I don’t think my views are particularly controversial among ordinary people,” she said. Coun O’Bern believes in legal immigration limits and “stopping the boats” but insists her views are not based on racism.

“When I was working at the library, we were giving English conversation lessons to young people who had just come to the country,” she said. “We have helped a lot of immigrants and there are many who have and are making very valuable 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 demands.”

Immigration is one of Coun O’Bern’s four main campaign planks. She is also calling for more social housing and fewer houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in Wigan, which she says adds to the “much needed” housing shortage.

Meanwhile, Coun O’Bern wants to free up hospital beds at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary by creating an “intermediate care facility” at the nearby Bellingham Hotel for the elderly and vulnerable. In addition, Councilor O’Bern wants a crackdown on “blatant drug dealing”, which he says takes place on the streets of Wigan in “broad daylight”.

“It’s happening everywhere,” she said. “I saw it myself – a car pulling up right in front of me in my area of ​​Wigan, Scholes and a drug deal closing. It is particularly widespread in the Mesnes park.

“I don’t blame the police – there just aren’t enough of them. But I lost control of the drug problem. It is not unusual to smell cannabis in the streets and neighborhoods. 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 Labor since 1918. She ran for Leigh and Atherton in 2019 and polled 551 votes, but no he repents, adding: “Yes, I’m honest, but I think I’m just saying what a lot of people think.”