Why Morley's youngest ever mayor Oliver Newton wants to change who gets involved in politics

At 27 years old, Oliver Newton recently became the youngest mayor that the town of Morley has ever seen.
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British politics, especially at a local level, has long faced charges of being bereft of young elected representatives, with older retired folk dominating ballot papers.

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It’s something Coun Newton is desperate to see change and having been elected as a town councillor in 2019 and then as a Leeds city councillor last month, he’s put his money where his mouth is.

Coun Oliver Newton is the youngest person to hold the role of Mayor of Morley in the town's history. Picture: Local Democracy Reporting ServiceCoun Oliver Newton is the youngest person to hold the role of Mayor of Morley in the town's history. Picture: Local Democracy Reporting Service
Coun Oliver Newton is the youngest person to hold the role of Mayor of Morley in the town's history. Picture: Local Democracy Reporting Service
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“I stood not only for public service but because our younger generation – we pay council tax too if we have a house, for instance,” Councillor Newton says.

“There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be a better demographic on the council. I want to get more young people into politics.

“My inspiration was just to represent my generation, because, why not?”

A trainee solicitor and talented amateur cricketer who played for Yorkshire’s U11s team, it’s been a rapid rise through the ranks for someone who admits he had no interest in politics while at secondary school.

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Perhaps Morley’s unique and colourful history helped light a spark later on. Having run its own affairs until 1974, a government carve-up of local authorities led to the town being reluctantly lumped in with Leeds.

A somewhat fraught relationship between town and city persists to this day, with Morley Borough Independent councillors (MBIs), who want to reverse the union, controlling most of the seats there.

“My mum used to object to planning applications and this and that,” Coun Newton explains. “When she was doing that I was getting an interest.

“Being 16 or 17, you don’t have a clue what planning applications are. One thing led to another and I was researching what the council was.

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“I read about the history and about how it was its own local authority, one of the biggest boroughs actually, because it stretched from Drighlington all the way to East Ardsley.

“When it was taken away against its own will I found that really interesting. The Morley Borough Independents (MBIs) have had seats since 2004, but everywhere else was either red or blue and I thought ‘why here?'”

Now a fully fledged MBI himself, he wants to use his position to better the town that he’s clearly very proud to be from, having grown up in the Tingley area.

“For my generation that was at school, everyone went off to uni, went off and did their own thing,” he says. “I can’t think of anyone else who’s stayed in Morley.

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“As a younger person, I’d like to see people living in Morley and staying in Morley, rather than going elsewhere because of the cost-of-living crisis or anything like that.

“I feel as if Morley can become an Ilkley, but closer to Leeds. A place where people come and live here, send their kids to schools here, eat here and drink here.

“I’d like to see them stay here and I think that’s the overriding issue that I’d like to see change.”

The Mayor of Morley is a civic role, appointed by town councillors and rotated on an annual basis. But it retains huge prestige around town and this year it’s raising vital money for the Guide Dogs charity.

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With the previous youngest occupant having been 39, Coun Newton says people have been “in awe” at the sight of someone his age acting as first citizen. It’s even prompted students to attend council meetings out of interest, he says.

So, aside from people like him putting themselves forward, what’s the secret to getting more youngsters into politics?

“I think it’s by showing people it’s accessible no matter what your background is,” he suggests.

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“I’ve lived in Morley all my life and there’s still nobody in my immediate family who’s gone to university yet.

“I’m doing part-time uni through my apprenticeship, a little later than people would normally, but it’s an unusual route to go down.

“The age I am, it shows you don’t have to be retired (to be elected).”

One of his first engagements as mayor was a talk to pupils at Bruntcliffe School in Morley, where he used one of the town’s most famous sons in a bid to inspire them.

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“I told them about how Herbert Asquith was born in Morley, and how he was Prime Minister through to World War One. He opened the Town Hall here and Helena Bonham Carter is a descendant of his.

“They were just in awe of that really, that someone like him had come from Morley and had grown up to be Prime Minister.

“I said to them, 'there’s no reason why any of you lot sitting here couldn’t be Prime Minister'.”

The last Prime Minister with any true West Yorkshire link was Huddersfield son Harold Wilson in the 60s and 70s.

Perhaps, the region, and maybe Morley again, are due to deliver us another one day.