A LABOUR councillor has announced he still step down at the local elections in May.

Coun Malcolm Clements was elected to the Royston ward in 2015 but will not be standing again.

“I took part in my first general election campaign in 1966, some 52 years ago, and have done my best to support the Labour Party ever since through thick and thin,” said Coun Clements.

“I do have some chronic health conditions, however, one of which prevents me from driving and this has put a burden on my wife, Irene, who has driven me here and there for the last four years.

“We celebrated our golden wedding anniversary last year and I do want to spend more quality time with her and our grandchildren.

“Politics has also changed over the last 50 years.

“We have seen the end of one-nation conservatism and the emergence of the politics of hate and greed, as evidenced in the current Brexit issue.

“My four years of office have seen Barnsley Council having to cut vital services year-on-year as this government transfers the burden of taxation from their friends in business and those who can afford it onto local taxes.

“I hope to pass the torch on to those who will battle better than I for a more just and fair society for the many, not the few.

“I am a lifelong internationalist and also intend to spend time improving my language skills. I speak five European languages, to a greater or lesser degree, and want to improve my poorer ones.

“I’ve lived in Yorkshire for 51 years and have been proud to say ‘I live in Barnsley’ for 26 of them.

“Barnsley people are justly proud of their town and I have been privileged to serve them, in a small way as a councillor for the Royston ward, for the last four years.”