Honour for two former Chesterfield councillors

Former councillors Stewart Bradford and David Stone have been made honorary aldermen of the borough in recognition of their long service to Chesterfield Borough Council.

They both received the honour at an extraordinary council meeting held on Monday 28 September.

Stewart Bradford was first elected as a Labour member of the council in May 1983 serving until May 1995 and again from May 1999 until retiring at the local elections earlier this year.  During his time as a council member, he served on council committees including the licensing committee and the appeals and regulatory committee.

David Stone was elected in January 1984 as an SDLP council member (later Liberal Democrat) and was the longest serving councillor at the time of his retirement in May this year.  He was mayor of the borough in 1995 to 1996 and later served as lead member for customer and corporate services and lead member for planning and asset management as well as sitting on various council committees. After leaving the Liberal Democrat party in 2012, he sat as an Independent member of the council until his retirement.

Councillor Sharon Blank, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for governance said: “Between them, Stewart Bradford and David Stone have clocked up nearly 60 years of service to their communities by serving as borough councillors making this honour richly deserved.”

Honorary alderman status is the second-highest honour the council can bestow after the freedom of the borough and has previously only been granted on 11 occasions.

At the ceremony, they were each presented with a scroll and signed the roll of honorary aldermen. Their names will also be added to the board displayed outside the council chamber in the Chesterfield Town Hall.

Photo: David Stone (left) and Stewart Bradford (right) after receiving the award.