[Margaret Pilkington]

I think we have to allow Mike a bit of leeway. It is easy to skip through a thread and think you have the gist of it...and unless you have lived in the area for a long time then some of the minutiae he may not be aware of...for no other reason than he wasn't here when incidents happened.
I think many of the older people vote for the person in any ward...rather sticking with the devil they know, than voting for someone they don't know.(which you have mentioned)
He may have been a wonderful ward councillor, but his antics as the leader of the council were risible...and to any outsider, makes the borough a laughing stock.
He didn't do a great deal for the town, and what he did do was aimed at massaging his monster ego(or there wouldn't have been half as many pics of him in the local papers).