Michael is new Ribble Valley Mayor

Formerly leader of the borough council, Coun. Ranson attended Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Blackburn, and St Peter’s School, York. After qualifying as a solicitor, he worked at the family law firm in Accrington and Blackburn, before joining the Anglo-American Corporation in Zambia as a legal manager.

He then returned to England and worked in the City of London for 18 months, before returning to his roots with stints as commercial director at Edgar Pickering Blackburn Limited and Platt Saco Lowell Limited.

Coun. Ranson subsequently worked for various engineering companies in the UK and visited more than 80 countries. He worked as a business consultant for the EU in Kazakhstan, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and in 1997 joined the Shepherd Group in York as chairman of their American group of companies in Atlanta, Georgia.

He was elected to Ribble Valley Borough Council in 2003, became deputy leader in 2006 and was leader from 2007 to 2013.

As a young man, Coun. Ranson played for Enfield in the Lancashire Cricket League and Lancashire County 2nd XI, as well as turning out for Read Cricket Club from 1974 to 1985. He also played hockey for Blackburn and Preston and represented Zambia in the 1968 East Africa Hockey Tournament.

Coun. Ranson’s mayoress is his wife, Janette, who he met in Lusaka in 1968. His chosen charities for his year in office are Home-Start Ribble Valley and Crossroads Care Ribble Valley.