April 14, 2021 3.33 pm This story is over 35 months old

Lincolnshire councillor steps down after 67 years in service

Former mayor and 26 years with Lincolnshire County Council
Councillor Anthony Herbert Turner MBE JP | Photo: LCC

Tony Turner MBE JP, a Conservative West Lindsey councillor for 67 years and a member of Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) since 1995, won’t be standing for re-election on May 6, as he steps down after a long career in local politics.

He is the county councillor for North Wolds ward and has lived in Swallow in the north of Lincolnshire since 1986. He had his first taste of local politics when elected to the former Cleethorpes Borough Council in 1954 and was later elected to Humberside County Council.

Cllr Turner has held a number of important posts with Lincolnshire County Council, including the Executive Councillor and portfolio holder for Waste Disposal, Special Needs (May 2002 to October 2003) and Executive Councillor and portfolio holder for ICT and Personnel (April 2004 to March 2005).

He has been a member of a number of outside bodies during his 26 years as a county councillor, including West Lindsey Cultural Panel and Central Lincolnshire Community Health Council.

Before his LCC career, he became the youngest ever Mayor of Cleethorpes in 1960. In the same year, he also became a magistrate and later a chairman of the bench when Cleethorpes Borough Council disbanded.

Reflecting on his time as a councillor, Tony Turner said: “I belong to that generation which grew from childhood to adulthood during the war when the notion of service was paramount.”

He added: “As we have been reminded frequently in the days following Prince Philip’s death, duty and service was at the very heart of things for my generation, and it has been for me (as for him) a lifelong joy, as well as a duty, to serve as best I can.”