WARM tributes were paid at the weekend to Tony Briscoe and Richard Bagley as they announced they would be stepping down from leadership roles at the Morning Star.

The paper’s management committee, elected each year by the thousands of readers who own the People’s Press Printing Society co-operative which publishes the newspaper, expressed its thanks and appreciation to both men for their years of dedication and hard work.

Mr Briscoe retired from the post of company secretary, while Mr Bagley leaves the role of editor for family reasons but will continue to work for the people’s paper.

The committee endorsed Ben Chacko as acting editor pending a formal appointment process for the role and welcomed business manager Chris Guiton, who will take up Mr Briscoe’s duties while the responsibilities of the company secretary are reviewed.

It also re-elected Bob Oram as chair and Carolyn Jones as vice-chair of the management committee, called on the new leadership to step up the vital Summer of Heroes fundraising drive and discussed exciting new initiatives to boost sales proposed by circulation manager Bernadette Keaveney.