Sir Alan David Greengross (15 April 1929 – 13 August 2018) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

politician, who served as the final leader of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

on the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

(GLC). Born in London, Alan's father Morris was Mayor of Holborn in the 1960s, while his sister

Wendy Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...

became a well known counsellor. Greengross was educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, and then undertook

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

before studying law at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. After graduation, he joined the family business, the precision engineering firm Indusmond (Diamond Tools) Ltd; he later became its chair and managing director. In 1959, he married Sally Rosengarten, who later became Director General of

Age Concern England Age Concern is the banner title used by a number of charitable organizations (NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people (defined as those over the age of 50) based chiefly in the four countries of the United King ...

. Greengross was elected to

Camden London Borough Council Camden London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Camden in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Camden is divided into 18 wards, each electing th ...

when it was first established, in 1964, and he became leader of the Conservative Party group on the council, the official opposition. In 1978, under his leadership, the party almost won control of the council, which remained its best ever result some forty years later. In the

1977 Greater London Council election Elections to the Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a muc ...

, Greengross was elected to represent Hampstead, and when in 1979 he was appointed as chair of the council's planning committee, he resigned from Camden Council. He became leader of the Conservative group on the council in 1983, when it was in opposition, and initially focused on boycotting the council's "Peace Year". Only three days before the publication of the party's manifesto for the 1983 general election, he was informed that it proposed the abolition of the council. He opposed this, and produced alternative plans for a smaller council, which he believed would convince the party's leadership to retain it. However, he was perceived as being on the "wet" or centrist wing of the party, and had little influence with national leader

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

. The GLC was abolished in 1986, Greengross receiving a knighthood. He became chair of the

Tory Reform Group The Tory Reform Group (TRG) is a pressure group associated with the British Conservative Party that works to promote "modern, progressive Conservatism... economic efficiency and social justice" and "a Conservatism that supports equality, divers ...

, and worked at the

Bartlett School of Architecture Bartlett may refer to: Places * Bartlett Bay, Canada, Arctic waterway * Wharerata, New Zealand, also known as Bartletts United States * Bartlett, Illinois ** Bartlett station, a commuter railroad station * Bartlett, Iowa * Bartlett, Kansas ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. In 1990, he was appointed as chair of the Bloomsbury and Islington Health Authority, but left after two years, with the body facing a large deficit. From 1996, he was chair of the London Regional Passengers' Committee, then in 2001 he moved to become a director of

South West Trains Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited, trading as South West Trains (SWT), was an English train operating company owned by Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach, which operated the South Western franchise between February 1996 and August 2017. SWT op ...

. He retired from this position in 2007, and focused on voluntary work with young people, and charitable work following the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greengross, Alan 1929 births 2018 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Councillors in the London Borough of Camden Members of the Greater London Council People educated at University College School Spouses of life peers Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London Conservative Party (UK) councillors