BURY'S next mayor looks set to be Labour councillor John Smith.

Subject to ratification by the minority parties on the council, Cllr Smith has been named by his ruling Labour Group as the successor to this year's First Citizen, Cllr Paul Nesbit.

Originally elected to the local authority in 1990, the 60-year-old grandfather is councillor for the Redvales ward in Bury.

Joining him as mayoress will be his wife Stella, who is a fellow Labour councillor serving the Unsworth ward.

Cllr Smith said: "It is a wonderful honour and I feel very privileged to have been selected by my fellow councillors.

"Representing Bury is not something I will take lightly and I know that it will be a busy 12 months."

Cllr Smith is currently Bury's housing spokesman and is also chairman of the council's economic and social regeneration scrutiny panel. He is also the chairman of governors at Woodbank Primary School.