Brent Charlesworth (born 1942) is a British local councillor who has served as Lord Mayor and Sheriff of Nottingham, and later as Mayor of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

Biography

Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

in 1942 to Ronald and Sarah Charlesworth, Brent grew up on the Shirecliffe estate in Sheffield. His father worked 45 years in the steelworks in

Templeborough Templeborough (historically Templebrough) is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The suburb falls within the Brinsworth and Catcliffe ward of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. The area takes its name from the remains of the ...

(Rotherham) until the steel industry was wiped out during the

Thatcher years Margaret Thatcher's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 4 May 1979 when she accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, and ended on 28 November 1990 upon her resignation. She was elected to the pos ...

. Educated at Nether Edge (which became) Abbeydale Boys’ Grammar School, he trained as a teacher in Birmingham and taught in that city in the 1960s. Later he studied for a BA at the

University of Wales , latin_name = , image = , caption = Coat of Arms , motto = cy, Goreu Awen Gwirionedd , mottoeng = The Best Inspiration is Truth , established = , , type = Confederal, non-member ...

, subsequently becoming a part-time university tutor. He also studied at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

for a higher degree. He moved to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

in 1971, becoming a Lecturer in Education at the former Trent Polytechnic (now Nottingham Trent University). He became Senior Lecturer in the Social Studies Department, working on the Clifton Campus from 1976 until taking early retirement some 25 years later.

Political career

In 1983 he was elected to

Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. The council is led by David Mellen, of ...

as Labour member for the Clifton West ward. After boundary changes abolished the Clifton West ward in 2003, when the City Council became a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, he was elected member for the newly created Clifton South ward. As a Nottingham City councillor, he held various positions of responsibility, latterly Vice-Chair of the Notts/Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service. Around 2000, he served as Chair of Governors for Whitegate Primary and Nursery School in Nottingham. He served as the Lord Mayor of Nottingham in 2003/04, and was

Sheriff of Nottingham The Sheriff of Nottingham is the main antagonist in the legend of Robin Hood. He is generally depicted as an unjust tyrant who mistreats the local people of Nottinghamshire, subjecting them to unaffordable taxes. Robin Hood fights against him, ...

for two years from 1991. Whilst serving the latter civic office, he travelled to the United States to present Hollywood actor

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

with an award recognising the achievements of the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in which Costner played the lead role and, when he was Lord Mayor, opened the

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

campus of the University of Nottingham in China. He stood down from Nottingham City Council in May 2007, moved to

, ostensibly to retire, but was subsequently voted in as councillor for Park Ward on Lincoln City Council. When

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

recovered power in Lincoln in 2011, he was appointed Executive Portfolio Holder for Social Inclusion and Community Cohesion, a post he held until taking civic office on 3 June 2014 as the 808th Mayor of Lincoln. In this role, he signed a twinning agreement with the city of

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

, China at the Lincoln Guildhall. He chose his Park Ward councillor colleague David Jackson as his Sheriff. His term came to an end on 19 May 2015. He has described himself as a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

, and expressed opposition to

identity politics Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...

Personal life

He has one son, Daniel who graduated in Psychology from the University of Lincoln. He currently lives in Lincoln. Originally a

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

supporter, he attends every Imps ( Lincoln City FC) home match.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20110831062407/http://tmf.lincoln.gov.uk/CouncillorDetail.asp/?sec_id=2771&id=235 - Councillor Brent Charlesworth's page at Lincoln City Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Charlesworth, Brent Nottingham City Councillors Mayors of places in Nottinghamshire Academics of Nottingham Trent University People from Sheffield 1942 births Living people Sheriffs of Nottingham Lord Mayors of Nottingham Politicians from Sheffield