Former County Councillor Doreen Pollitt passes away

Long-serving Labour party member and former County Councillor, Doreen Pollitt, has died.

Doreen was born and brought up in Coppull and became involved in politics at the age of twenty when she was elected Shop Steward with the Transport and General Workers Union at the Royal Ordnance Factory in Chorley.  She was the youngest Shop Steward at the Factory.

Her first political campaigning was alongside Barbara Castle, then MP for Blackburn, on the issue of equal pay for women workers.

In the 1970s Doreen moved to Accrington and became active in the local Party. She was a very successful campaigner, motivator and fundraiser.

She was elected to Lancashire County Council in 1989 and was Chair of Social Services for four years before becoming Deputy Leader of the County Council in 2001. She served for eight years in that position and was an integral member of the team that took the Council to excellent status.

Doreen served in many roles in the Hyndburn Labour Party most notably as Agent for the former MP, Greg Pope, working with him in three successful elections. In 2009 she was Agent for Greg’s successor, Graham Jones, who held the seat for Labour.  Doreen was secretary of the constituency Labour Party for many years until she retired in February 2012.

In September 2010, Doreen was recognized for her services to the Labour Party and was presented with a national award at the conference in Manchester by Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman.

In July 2011 Doreen was recognized for her contribution to life in Lancashire and eminent services rendered to Lancashire County Council over a long period and was awarded the title of Honorary Alderman.

Hyndburn MP, Graham Jones, said, "Doreen was a fantastic party secretary for many years. From tackling militants in the 1980s, she helped build the local party up as well as go on to become Deputy Leader of Lancashire County Council, serving the county for over 20 years. Her great passion was children and she was head of Children's Services at County for many years. She also ensured that there was huge investment in her division of Accrington West to build up broken communities following the Thatcher years. She stood up for ordinary people. She was a big supporter of mine in my Parliamentary selection in 2009 and I cannot thank her enough for that. She is sadly missed."

Doreen's funeral service is on Thursday 5th November at 2.00pm at:

Southport Crematorium
Southport Road
Southport
Merseyside
PR8 5JQ

followed by light refreshments at:

St Stephens Club
12 Hoole Lane
Banks
Southport
PR9 8BD

Family flowers only
Donations to the Alzheimer’s Society