For the eight years Chris Green has been a Conservative MP in Bolton, the borough has helped make up the Greater Manchester combined authority led by a Labour mayor.
And going back much further than that, it was 1974 when Bolton left Lancashire for administrative purposes to become part of Greater Manchester under the Local Government Act.
So where does Bolton West Mr Green, who was elected in 2015, stand on the debate about whether Bolton belongs in Greater Manchester or should return to the historic county of Lancashire?
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The MP grew up in Liverpool and describes it as a 'great Lancashire town' in reference to it being part of the administrative county of Lancashire along with Manchester until the local reforms came in half a century ago.
Hear the full interview with Bolton West MP Chris Green on The Northern Agenda podcast
Last week, Bolton councillors debated calls for the borough to leave Greater Manchester - and acknowledged Bolton’s Lancastrian heritage - after a petition with more than 3,000 names supporting the move was handed in.
Speaking on The Northern Agenda podcast, Mr Green said: "We are in Lancashire. The 1974 settlement never erased the character, the nature, the geography of our historic counties, those historic counties are still our actual counties.
"And I often refer to Greater Manchester as the Greater Manchester administrative district, because all of our admin, its paper clips and pens and biros are important.
"That's where I see the identity of Greater Manchester at that level, Lancashire is so much more important.
"So in terms of working with other boroughs in Greater Manchester, I'm comfortable with the administrative outlook in Greater Manchester.
"You know what, I never wanted the mayoral position. So if we were to ditch that, I'd be pretty happy. I'd be all right about moving out of Greater Manchester as a formal organisation. I think there will be some benefits.
"We could act independently on a number of issues, but where we need to collaborate with Wigan borough or Bury or Salford we could collaborate, so I'm not going to push it, but I certainly am sympathetic."
As Local Democracy Reporter Chris Gee writes, a decision to rejoin Lancashire would result in major changes for the borough with a likely switch in who provides police, fire, public transport and waste management services to Bolton.
Such a drastic change in how local services are run would also require an Act of Parliament, like the one triggered in 1974, when Bolton left the county of Lancashire. Dylan Evans from Bolton for Change, organised the petition and put his case to the council last month.
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Asked about the debate on his BBC Radio Manchester phone-in last week, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: "I always talk about the proud towns of Greater Manchester and their individual identity and I know that very well as a former MP for Leigh, I know how people feel about the identity of Leigh and I know it applies to Bolton."
He added: "I think younger people do associate with the Greater Manchester identity. I can appreciate the people who've been around a bit longer and remember the days before Greater Manchester may not feel the same affiliation.
"What I'm absolutely certain of is that the 10 boroughs working together is producing benefits for the residents here. And the big one is the Bee Network, when our new public transport system comes in when we take control of our policies and make them work for people not for the profits of the companies. That is a big benefit of being part of Greater Manchester."
