It’s not quite on the scale of Debbie McGee, who was once asked what first attracted her to the millionaire Paul Daniels, but one of the lures of Taunton for Somerset councillor Mike Rigby was the money, writes Phil Hill.
That wasn’t all.
He said: “I grew up in Truro, where my mum was a teacher, and my dad was a town planner.
“After studying town planning at the University of the West of England in Bristol, I went back to Cornwall to work for the county council as a planner for a couple of years.
“I then moved to Taunton to work for Somerset County Council, doing the same thing but with a big pay rise.
“After the interview, I looked around the town.
“There seemed to be a good amount of life, with half a dozen nightclubs and lots of pubs.”
The County Hall job wasn’t what Mike expected, so after a couple of years, he threw it in and transferred to the minerals and waste industry.
“I was living in Taunton, working away in the week in places like Hampshire, London and Bristol,” he said.
“It was good fun, and I did that for about 20 years.
“Then I set up a company doing energy management.”
Around that time, Mike, who had moved to Bishops Lydeard, became interested in local politics.
He added: “It was when our local councillor voted to close the village library.
“I thought, ‘Why are you doing that? You’re supposed to represent our interests’.
“I came to understand that with certain party politics, you get to vote in a certain way.
“I launched the Save the Library campaign.
“I thought I could do a better job of being a councillor than the incumbent, so I stood in the 2013 Somerset County Council election and won.”
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As an independent councillor, he represented the Bishops Lydeard community before being invited to join the opposition Lib Dems.
“It wasn’t a big ideological move as we had a lot in common,” he recalled.
“I was then selected to stand for the Lib Dems in 2019 election for the Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) district.
“I won my seat and was appointed to a cabinet position, responsible for planning, transport and economic development.
“Being in the administration is a lot more difficult but more fun than being in opposition.
“It’s more time-consuming, trying to shape direction and having control of a huge budget is a big responsibility.
“We ran the show during the whole of SWT quite satisfactorily.
“We did a lot after the merger of Taunton Deane and West Somerset councils.”
Mike opposed the creation of the Somerset Council unitary authority, which killed off the old county and district councils.
He said: “Regeneration planning, looking after our town centres, those sorts of services would inevitably be swallowed up by the various care services.
“Around 70 per cent of the council’s revenue budget is spent on adult and children’s services, which impacts on our ability to look after things the public sees every day - highways maintenance, town centre management, leisure services.
“It’s a real frustration trying to balance everything while still trying to recover from the previous administration’s ill-thought-out council tax freeze and the government squeezing the local authority budget.
Despite everything, Mike, the lead member for economic development, planning and assets, believes a “focused, energetic councillor” can still achieve much.
He has personally tackled the lack of highway maintenance and can often be seen with a shovel and rod in hand to clear drains during floods, although that sometimes gets him into trouble with the council's highways department.
Mike’s top priority these days is to regenerate the last bits of Taunton that need bringing up to scratch.
“I want to see Debenhams, the old Poundstretcher site and the Tangier gas works sorted out,” he said.
“There are a couple of big commercial premises such as the former Rowcliffe’s site in East Reach, land associated with the railway and Firepool.
“We need to improve the town centre paving, which should be repaired, not just with a blob of tar.
“We need to fix those years of neglect.
“The town centre needs refurbishing and High Street needs a little love.
“It’s a unique town with some great independent shops.”
Mike, who is on Bishops Lydeard Parish Council, flirted with becoming Taunton MP.
Inspired by his great aunt, Joyce Butler, Labour MP for Wood Green from 1955 to 1979, he stood for Parliament as an independent.
He said: “I really enjoyed doing the hustings, although on one occasion there were more of us on the panel than in the audience.
“I didn’t do very well and got about 2,500 votes.
“It was a year of effort for fairly little reward.”
In his spare time, Mike enjoys gliding, although the recent bad weather has kept him on the ground, and cycling.
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