Ellesmere Port Mayor

John was born in Rossett, North Wales In 1955 and now lives near Wervin, a short distance from Ellesmere Port, with his wife Beverley and dog Rosa. John & Bev have two sons, Alex and Ben.

John went to primary school in Wrexham until he was 9 years old and then moved to near Derby when his dad got a new job and he completed his secondary education there. John has a keen interest in sports and played seven different sports for his school: he also played representative sport in cricket, tennis, and basketball during those years and later. His dad then retired and John returned to live with his family in Marford, nr Wrexham.

John went on to work full-time for two years in retail, whilst studying in the evening for the qualifications he needed to go to teacher training college, (St Katherine’s College: now Liverpool Hope University) in Liverpool. John qualified as a teacher in 1979 and then gained a B.Ed Hons degree in 1983.

He then went on to teach in Wigan and then Whiston (Nr Prescott); before finally settling down to teach in Halewood Comprehensive for 24 years as a senior Head of Department in charge of Vocational Education and Careers in the school. John gained a master’s degree in education in 1990, after studying for 4 years at Liverpool University. During this time John lived in Runcorn.

John always had an interest in politics, and he got elected to represent a ward on Halton Council in 2000. John then enjoyed a varied and interesting career in politics: he was the Cabinet Member for Transport and then later undertook a wider role on the Merseytravel Board in charge of Smart Ticketing and Buses across Merseyside. He also was a parliamentary candidate three times and was the first Labour candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner in 2012.

John decided to retire from politics in 2022 and go to live near Chester; with his wife, Beverley, who had retired from local government after a long and distinguished career.

He was then asked in 2023 to stand for a seat on the Cheshire West and Chester Council in the Gowy Ward, where he narrowly failed to win. However, politics wasn’t quite done with him yet: he was again asked to stand in May 2024 for the Wolverham Ward after the resignation of the ward councillor (Michael Edwardson) on ill health grounds. John was then elected to serve the people of the Wolverham Ward, which he has happily done so since then.

John considers it to be a huge honour and privilege to have been asked by councillor colleagues in Ellesmere Port to be the Mayor for 2026-2027. John and Beverley will carry out their duties diligently and to the best of their ability as Mayor and Mayoress over the forthcoming Year.

We look forward to meeting as many people as possible from the wonderful town of Ellesmere Port. John & Bev welcomes everyone in Ellesmere Port to join them in an open and inclusive way, and to support his chosen charities.