We profile some of the leaders of Tameside Council over the past 50 years.

Councillor Roy Oldham

Roy Oldham was Executive Leader of Tameside metropolitan borough council since 1980 when the council began unbroken Labour control which still continues to this day.

He was born in Mottram, Greater Manchester, and lived there for the rest of his life. His career was spent with British Nuclear Fuels. Roy joined the Labour party in 1960 and was elected to represent Mottram on Longdendale district council in 1966. He was elected to Tameside council when it was formed in 1974 from nine towns in Lancashire and Cheshire, and became its leader in 1980.

Roy was a founder member of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, following the dissolution of the Greater Manchester county council in 1986, and went on to chair the board of Manchester international airport, which is owned by the 10 Greater Manchester authorities. He also chaired and led the Greater Manchester pension fund for 23 years, making it into the most profitable public sector pension fund in the country, valued at more than £10bn.

Councillor Oldham was instrumental in securing over £200 million to build 10 new high schools in Tameside. He oversaw the first large-scale voluntary transfer of council-owned homes (17,000 properties) in the country to a new social landlord, which led to £250 million of investment and record levels of tenant satisfaction.

In 2005, after being moved by the suffering in the Kenyan village of Kiagware – highlighted in a BBC documentary, Fever Road – Roy pledged money to help combat malaria and provide medical aid. His fundraising efforts resulted in the construction of a clinic, opened in 2008 and named after his wife of 48 years, Margaret, who oversaw the project and who died later that year.

In 2008 the Audit Commission attributed the phenomenal success of the council to Roy’s “widely recognised visionary and inspirational leadership”.

In 2009 he introduced the Tameside Works First scheme, aimed at supporting local businesses through the economic slump. His approach to the recession was praised by business leaders and won this year’s Local Government Association’s local innovation award. Under his leadership, Tameside council picked up more than 50 national awards for innovation and good practice. Roy was appointed a CBE in 1999 and an honorary freeman of the borough in 2005.

The 76-year-old, who died in 2010, led Tameside Council for more than 30 years making him Britain’s longest-serving council leader.