Camden New Journal
Publications by New Journal Enterprises
spacer
  Home Archive Competition Jobs Tickets Accommodation Dating Contact us
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
By SUNITA RAPPAI
 

Council Leader Raj Chada and Mayor Barbara Hughes


MP Frank Dobson (left) with former Labour councillors John Richardson and Ivor Walker


Roy Shaw on leave shortly before leaving for France in 1944
War hero Roy celebrates his half century at the Town Hall

Council legend jokes WWII was great training for '70s and '80s meetings

WHEN Labour councillor Roy Shaw started his career in local government 50 years ago, Councillor Raj Chada – current leader of Camden Council – was not even born.
Last Thursday, at the Yeomanry Hall in King’s Cross, Cllr Chada, 32, was one of a number of figures from across party lines who turned out to pay tribute to Cllr Shaw, 80, as the elder statesman of Camden politics celebrated his 50th anniversary as a councillor. The forthcoming election in May – which Cllr Shaw is fighting – will be the 12th time he has had his name on a ballot paper.
The councillor for Haverstock ward revealed that when he first stepped inside the council’s marble halls he had his heart set on a back-bench seat at Westminster – but decided the Parliamentary drinking culture of the era would not agree with him.
He said: “My original idea was to do one or two terms in local government and then to find a seat in Parliament. But in those days most of the MPs seemed to spend their time drunk in the bars. I decided it was not for me and I would spend more time in local government.”
Born in West Hampstead in 1925, Cllr Shaw, a former Beckford and William Ellis school pupil, said he was “bitten by the political bug” after helping Labour in their 1951 General Election campaign in Hampstead.
The former solider, who served as a tank wireless operator and gun loader during World War II – “life was tough but good training for Camden Labour Group meetings in the 70s and 80s” – was then working as a sergeant in the Intelligence Corp.
His tank regiment was one of the first to cross the Rhine into Germany after D-Day.
After becoming secretary of the Hampstead Labour Party in 1951, Cllr Shaw was elected to Hampstead Borough council in 1956. He moved to St Pancras in 1961 and served for three years as an alderman before the London Borough of Camden was formed in 1964/65. He has served in the Town Hall ever since.
Well-regarded as an expert on local government finance, Cllr Shaw served as Labour chief whip at the Town Hall from 1965 to 1973. In 1974 he became deputy leader and took over the top job the following year. He became deputy leader again from 1990 to1994.
He said: “One of the biggest changes over the years is that the council has softened. There was a rigid distinction in the old days between officers and members. An officer had to stand up if he was addressing members. Local government was also much simpler then – there was much less paperwork.”
Despite the changes, Cllr Shaw has no plans for retirement – “I will keep going as long as I can” – and has a few tips for aspiring politicians in the run-up to next month’s elections.
He said: “Be prepared for a lot of hard work. You have to read your documents. If you don’t the officers and other members will recognise it and you will be regarded as lazy.
“Treat officers with respect. Your job is not to manage the council – a lot of councillors think they should interfere and they should not. Day-to-day management of the council is up to the officers. Long-term policy is up to the members.”
Former councillors and current colleagues from across the political spectrum queued up to pay tributes. Speaking to an audience that included Holborn and King’s Cross MP Frank Dobson and former Labour stalwart Roy Hattersley, Cllr Chada, a councillor of three years – which, he quipped “felt like 50 at times” – revealed that both had been the only sons in families with five sisters. He added: “You suffered as I have done. I thought: ‘How does it shape your character?’”
Cllr Chada added that Roy had always been a popular figure with female members of the party.
Talking about his wife, the executive member for Social Service Geethika Jayatilaka, Cllr Chada said: “I know you have taken my wife out to lunch more times than me.
“Fifty years is a long time and your public service started before that. It is truly a magnificent achievement – an underrated achievement in an underrated profession.”
spacer
» A-Z of Theatre
» Local Reviews
» Local Listings
» West End Reviews
» West End Listings
» Theatre Tickets
» Theatre & Hotel Packages













spacer


Theatre Music
Arts & Events Attractions
spacer
 
 


  up