Steve Williams (left) and Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP
Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP
Lindsay was elected Member of Parliament for Chorley in 1997 – the first Labour MP to represent Chorley for 18 years.
Before entering Parliament Lindsay served on Chorley Borough Council, being the youngest ever councillor to serve in Chorley when elected in 1980 at the age of 22. During his time on Chorley Borough Council Lindsay acted as Chairman of the Economic Development Committee and initiated plans for the redevelopment of the former Royal Ordnance site at Euxton, becoming what is now known as Buckshaw Village.
Lindsay also held the post of Deputy Leader of Chorley Council from 1994 to 1997 and his time in Local Government finished on a high as Mayor of Chorley from 1997 to 1998.
Coming from a political family – his father, Doug Hoyle, was MP for Warrington and now sits in the House of Lords – it did not take Lindsay long to realise that this was the route he wanted to follow. Having his appetite wetted by local politics Lindsay decided to go one better and stand for Parliament. Winning the selection for the seat of Chorley Lindsay campaigned hard on local issues and was elected at the 1997 General Election.
In November 2019, Lindsay was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons.
Outside of politics Lindsay likes to relax at home by reading, watching sport and in particular watching rugby league. As former Chairman of Chorley Rugby League Club the game remains his personal favourite. When not occupied by rugby the pets and garden take up the majority of his free time.
Lindsay celebrated his 60th birthday in June 2017 and was Knighted in the 2018 New Year Honours List.
Steve Williams
Originally from Blackburn, Steve has lived in the village of Brindle near Chorley since 1984 having married a local girl some 10 years before.
Born in 1952, he was a football referee for 29 years serving as a Linesman in the professional ranks for 12 years before retiring from the game at the end of the 1995-96 season.
Heavily involved in the local community for many years, he has served on Brindle Parish Council from 1996 until 2012 and was Chairman for two years between 2004 to 2006. He stood as an Independent Candidate for the Brindle & Hoghton Ward in the local elections in 2004 and 2016, losing narrowly on both occasions.
He has also served as Governor at Brindle St. James’ School C of E (Aided) Primary School for several years around the millennium. From 2002 until 2012, Steve served as a Trustee of Brindle Community Hall, playing an integral part in the campaign for a new building in the village. He was responsible for all marketing & PR, and assisted in raising the necessary funds. He was proud to host the opening ceremony for the new building in August 2006. In November 2009, Steve was elected Chairman of the Hall’s Management Committee after serving as Vice-Chairman since 2003.
A sales and marketing professional with major American and Japanese companies, he set up his own specialist sales recruitment business in 1996. After expanding nationally by the franchise route, he sold the rights to his business in 2002 and took time out to devote to other interests. One of those interests was local history – being instrumental in setting up Brindle Historical Society in 2002 before leaving the group in 2012. He set up Chorley in The Great War in January 2014, seeing it develop into a successful group with over 30 members.
His interest in World War One started in 2002 when researching names on Brindle War Memorial (two men from the village were in the Chorley Pals). Several personal trips to The Western Front in 2002 and 2003 saw him organise and lead a six day coach trip for Brindle Historical Society members to the WW1 battlefields in France and Belgium in May 2004. This led him to organising a further coach trip for 40 people from Lancashire, to be in the trenches at Serre at 7.30 a.m. on the 1st July 2006 – exactly 90 years to the minute when the Chorley Pals went over the top. The trip was covered by North West Tonight, the BBC’s local television news programme, and he assisted with the half hour long documentary for BBC Radio Lancashire.
Another personal trip, this time to the WW1 battlefield of Gallipoli in Turkey during September 2006, was again covered by the North West Tonight. He published his first book in 2008 entitled ‘Brindle & Hoghton Pals’ about the 320 soldiers from the two villages who fought in WW1. His second book, ‘Chorley Pals’ was written with fellow WW1 historian, John Garwood, being published on the 1st July 2009, with all proceeds going to the Chorley Pals Memorial appeal. He now gives talks to local groups and societies across the region, as well as appearing on BBC Radio Lancashire, BBC North West Tonight TV News and Granada Reports.
Now retired, Steve is a regular contributor to history pages on social media.
