A Catholic former librarian has been elected as an independent councillor to the local authority that sacked her for publicly criticising its decision to award a multi-million pound redevelopment contract to a Chinese firm.
Maureen O’Bern was fired by Wigan Council in 2021 when she objected to a £135 million deal with Beijing Construction Engineering Group International (BCEGI) UK to redevelop the town centre because of the persecution of Uyghur Muslims by the Chinese state.
She was later escorted from the public gallery of Wigan Town Hall after telling councillors: “You’ve all got blood on your hands.”
