HISTORY was made at Bury Council yesterday as they appointed Cllr Rishi Shori as council leader.

Cllr Shori became the first ever black or minority ethnic leader of a Greater Manchester council after he succeeded Cllr Mike Connolly in the post.

At the annual meeting of the council at Bury Town Hall he thanked the Labour group for putting their faith in him.

He added: "It is an honour and a privilege to be elected as the leader of the council in the borough that I was born, raised, educated and live.”

Cllr Shori also became the youngest leader in Bury Council’s history.

The 35-year-old became an elected member in 2009 and was re-elected in 2010 and 2014.

He joked to a full chamber that his motivation to become leader came in 1989.

He said: “My elder sister became the first Asian girl to become head girl of Tottington High School.

“After 27 long years I feel like I have finally surpassed her by becoming leader of the council.

“My family tree takes you thousands of miles to two separate continents but I’m Bury born and bred.

“It’s the place that has given me and my family everything and no one is more committed to making it a better place to live.”

Cllr Shori took the opporuntiy to outline his priorities for his four year term of office.

He said: “My overarching ambition is to make Bury one of the best boroughs in Britain to live, work and study.”

He explained he intended to do that by increasing the supply of affordable housing, making Bury the entrepreneurial capital of the North West, improving education, improving health inequalities and protecting and promoting the local environment.

Cllr Shori announced that Cllr Jane Lewis will serve as deputy leader of the council.

He said: “The next few years will be exceptionally challenging given further spending cuts from Government and the way we as a council and the public sector as a whole deliver services will change dramatically.

“That said we should not limit our ambition and I will strive to ensure that Bury becomes one of the best borough's in Britain to live, work and study."