ONE of the best-known faces on the political stage in Cumbria is bowing out after spending half his lifetime in public service.

Leader of the county council's Labour group for 15 years - and latterly chairman of the county council for the past 12 months - Bill Minto will be a hard act to follow, writes Jim Smith.

Yet the Workington-born former steel worker entered politics almost by accident.

A union shop steward, he started attending Labour branch meetings after having his arm twisted by his future wife Joan, already a party activist.

Bill was elected on to the old Workington Borough Council in the same year as England won the World Cup in 1966.

Seven years later, he became one of the original members of the newly-formed Cumbria County Council.

He served as social services spokesman from 1973-86 and faced some testing times as chief whip when Labour held the slimmest of majorities on the council from 1981-85.

After becoming leader in 1986 - a post he had never sought - Bill trod a political tightrope for a dozen years, since the minority Labour administration constantly needed to co-operate with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on a hung council.

His successor, Stewart Young, summed up Bill's achievement, saying: "If politics is known as the art of the possible then this is personified in Bill.

He was probably the only politician who, when the council was hung, could have pulled everyone to work together and make significant progress in the development of the council and the county."

Recognition for his public service came in the form of an OBE in 1990 and CBE last year.

Bill was also appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Cumbria in 1996, and became a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts last year.

As well as diplomatic skills, Bill was well-known for injecting humour into even the most intense debates in the council chamber.

Never one to miss out on the chance to make a pun, he had a knack of putting a smile on the faces of his political opponents as well as his supporters.

The past four years of a Labour-controlled council have thrown up fresh challenges for Bill, from the controversial sell-off of Cumbria's design and business services unit, to the radical restructuring of the council's democratic process.

Bill says he is proud of Labour's achievements in power, including the abolition of charges for home care and

the introduction of nursery places for every three and

four-year-old.

Unthinkable by a Labour politician just a few years ago, Bill now believes local authorities must embrace the private sector.

In future, councils will set the policies but increasingly take a back seat when it comes to delivering services, he says.

A former chairman of the North West Regional Assembly, Bill says the drive for regional government could well result in major changes to the political landscape in Cumbria.

The advent of a directly-elected parliament for the North West could, for example, lead to the demise of one of the present layers of local government.

One option would be the creation of a single unitary authority for Cumbria, in charge of all council services.

Alternatively, the county could be carved up, possibly into three separate authorities based on a south/east/west split.

Either way, the present six district councils would disappear.

Provided guarantees are in place to ensure decision making is devolved to local level, Bill favours the former option.

"Looking at viability and use of resources and best value, there must be enormous savings to be had in taking the six district levels out," he says.

"The administration is not important, but how people get services on the ground is.

It has to be an option to look at.

I think councillors are duty-bound to take it seriously, looking at all the options and getting services in the best possible way," he adds.

While question marks may hang over the future of local government, Bill has already faced up to his own biggest personal challenge - overcoming cancer.

He went into hospital just before last Christmas to undergo a major operation to remove a tumour, and then came through courses of radiotherapy and chemotherapy to ensure the illness does not return.

He still receives treatment.

"It's the biggest battle I have faced in my lifetime which I had to win," he reflects - and, fortunately, he has succeeded.

While retirement from politics now beckons, Bill plans to maintain his interest in promoting higher education, as well as continuing to scrutinise the operations of BNFL at Sellafield as a member of a newly-formed committee.

For a man in his 70th year, he clearly has no plans to start putting his feet up just yet.