LONG-serving councillor Dick Wraith attended his final councillor’s surgery on Saturday after 43 years representing the people of Wombwell.
Coun Wraith, 74, had ‘been in two minds’ about whether to stand for election and serve another four years, but had initially decided he would.
However he came unstuck after a slip of the tongue during a meeting, in which he inadvertently used a racist word as part of an outdated turn of phrase. He was suspended from the party, and decided to withdraw from the race and retire.
That was more than two months ago but he has continued to hold his regular advice surgeries, and the Chronicle went along to his final one on Saturday at the Wombwell Centre.
“I shall miss helping people,” he said.
“I’ve got a lot of memories, some good, some bad.
“I’ve always been a people’s man and I’ve done my best to be a people’s champion for Wombwell.”
Dick was first elected to the council in 1976, initially as part of the opposition in the Ratepayers group. However he soon ‘crossed the floor’ to the Labour Party.
