Jack Hazelgrove has sadly died. He was 89. Jack served as a Labour councillor for 22 years, first in Maidstone, then on East Sussex County Council, and then on Brighton and Hove City Council.
Jack was a man of great compassion with strong and firmly held beliefs, willing to take actions to his personal detriment if it was, simply, the right thing to do. There are few in politics today who follow his example.
He was one of two Labour councillors, the other was Francis Tonks, who were expelled from the party in 2007 for allegedly endorsing David Bang, a Respect candidate, in a local election.
Francis, who had just retired as a councillor, denied the claims and his expulsion was later quashed.
Jack, who also denied the claim, resigned from the Labour Party in disgust at the allegations and the cavalier manner in which he had been treated. As a longtime servant of the party he deserved better.
On standing down as a councillor he was appointed as an Honorary Alderman of the City of Brighton and Hove.
Jack later joined the Green Party and stood twice as a Green candidate in Hollingdean and Stanmer ward.
In 2015 he polled 2,476 but lost by just 43 votes. In 2019 he again came within a whisker of winning, losing this time by 78 votes.
Even after he stood down as a councillor, Jack remained very active in a range of activities. He chaired the Brighton and Hove branch at the National Pensioners Convention and was an elected member of the Brighton and Hove Older People’s Council from 2009 to 2013.
He chaired the Central Sussex Group of the National Federation of Bus Users. Other interests include chairing the local branch of the United Nations Association.
He listed among his interests arts and culture, civil rights and social justice, the environment, human rights, the alleviation of poverty and, of course, politics. He was particularly concerned about the plight of asylum-seekers and immigrants.
Professionally, Jack worked as a lecturer in social work. He had been educated at the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School (now BHASVIC) before going to Keble College, Oxford, where he read modern history from 1957 to 1961.
At Oxford he was secretary and librarian of the Oxford Union Society and later studied for a masters degree in government and politics at the City of London Poly.
Jack was a Brighton and Hove Albion season ticket holder until an accident resulted in his mobility becoming impaired.
I used to see him regularly on the bus going up Ditchling Road, in the Open Market or along London Road.
He would talk about the Albion or politics, assuming I knew far more about both than I do and certainly not as much as Jack did.
Local politics today would benefit greatly from having more people like Jack Hazelgrove with his experience and principles.
This article is reproduced with permission from Andy Winter’s blog.
In February this year I ended up in the same geriatric “ward” – if ward it can be termed, as Jack. In firm voice he made his displeasure loud abd clear. He wanted to go home. This ward in the new Louisa Martindale bldg is like an indoor motel with patients alone in large ensuite rooms. Jack would sit in a chair in the corridor outside his room, clearly bored. I was wheeled past him several times, but he did not remember me, however I reckon he might have agreed with me that this experimental seeming “ward” where almost nothing seemed to happen was somewhat dystopian.
In February this year I ended up in the same geriatric “ward” – if ward it can be termed, as Jack. In firm voice he made his displeasure loud abd clear. He wanted to go home. This ward in the new Louisa Martindale bldg is like an indoor motel with patients alone in large ensuite rooms. Jack would sit in a chair in the corridor outside his room, clearly bored. I was wheeled past him several times, but he did not remember me, however I reckon he might have agreed with me that this experimental seeming “ward” where almost nothing seemed to happen was somewhat dystopian.