Long-standing Havant councillor Tony Briggs is made an alderman

An honorary Alderman is a title granted to a former councillor who has rendered eminent service to the council and the area they served.

Alderman Tony Briggs served as a member of Havant Borough Council for 20 years and was council leader between 2008 and 2014.

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The current council leader, Councillor Alex Rennie introduced the motion to full council on Wednesday.

He said: ‘It is one of the highest honours we can bestow on people who have given long service to this council.

‘Public service, as you all know, is not easy and it comes with challenges and to do it for a substantial amount of time like Tony did is something we should rightly recognise as a council.

‘Tony served more than 20 years as a councillor here and before that he was a councillor in Gosport.

‘The room we sit in today is very much Tony’s legacy, he was the person that had the foresight to turn this public building into one that was modern, one that we could make the hub for our public services here in Havant town centre.

Cllr Narinder Bains added: ‘What our residents see of Tony is him delivering our manifestos.

‘But more importantly, I’d like to thank Tony for being my mentor, the go-to person if I needed advice about my ward or the council in general.

‘So thank you, Tony, there is no-one more deserving of this honour.’

When accepting the title, Tony Briggs said: ‘Alderman – I go back to when I was first elected to council in 1970 and the title of alderman in those days was very different.

‘In fact, if someone served 20 years on a local authority you were appointed an alderman which meant you never stood for election again until you retired – every committee was chaired by an Alderman, I don’t think you’d let me chair a committee.

‘It is a great honour to be recognised as an honorary alderman and I look forward to the ceremony in due course, thank you.’