Former Lancaster mayor receives 'highest honour' after 56 years of service

Abbott Bryning

A former councillor and mayor who won 15 elections in a row has received the Freedom of the City of Lancaster.

Abbott Bryning, 91, was presented with the award, the highest honour Lancaster City Council can bestow on one of its citizens, on Friday at Lancaster Town Hall.

The award follows Abbott’s 56 years of continuous service, having first been elected to the council in 1967.

In that time he was mayor twice, served on multiple committees and served a period as leader of the council.

He was a Labour councillor for Bulk ward for 40 years and then for Skerton East for 16 years, before deciding not to stand in the 2023 local elections.

During his working life Mr Bryning was a former head of business studies at Lancaster and Morecambe College.

Abbott was asked to swear to the Oath of a Free Citizen and sign the Roll of Honorary Freemen to confirm his new status. At the same meeting, having recently retired as a councillor, he received the honour of also becoming an Honorary Alderman.

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