BINGLEY’s brand new town council bursts into life tonight with its first ever meeting and the possibility of a mayor-making.

Born from a campaign to boost local democracy and give the town it’s own political identity, voters backed the idea of a politically-neutral body and in the recent elections picked a team of eight Independents, four Labour and four Conservatives.

The council will serve over 18,000 people in Crossflatts, Bingley, Cottingley, Eldwick, Gilstead and Micklethwaite.

And its initial meeting takes place at Bingley Arts Centre tonight at 6pm and all voters are invited to the public event, said Councillor Ros Dawson (Ind, Priestthorpe).

“It is an historic day for Bingley and everyone is welcome.

“So many people have worked so incredibly hard for the last two years to make this happen and this is an opportunity to come and see the results of all that hard work.

“There will be quite a lot of procedural discussions - the first thing is to elect a chairman for the meeting itself, who can then host the debate on choosing the town council chairman.

“Then we will decide whether or not that person will be made a mayor and then the same with role of deputy chairman,” Cllr Dawson said.

Another job will be to pick a representative to liaise with Bradford council and also how to engage with other local official bodies.

Members will also have to begin to search for a new town council office and consider what equipment may be needed.

The new council will host its first Annual Town Council meeting on Tuesday, May 31.

Other newly-elected councillors are: Andrew Quarrie, (Con, Bingley Central & Myrtle Park), Joe Wheatley, (Lab, Bingley Central & Myrtle Park), Howard Clough, (Ind, Cottingley), John Goode, (Ind, Cottingley), Robert Beckwith, (Lab, Cottingley), Thomas Cheney, (Con, Crossflatts & Micklethwaite), Marcus Dearden, (Lab, Crossflatts & Micklethwaite), Terry Brown (Ind), Oakwood Mike Wheatley, (Lab, Crow Nest), Michelle Chapman, (Ind, Crow Nest) Chris O’Neill, (Ind, Eldwick), Mark Truelove, (Ind, Eldwick), Rachel Varley, (Con, Gilstead), Geoff Winnard, (Con, Gilstead), Edwina Simpson, (Ind, Priestthorpe).