John Edward "Jack" Brooks, Baron Brooks of Tremorfa DL (12 April 1927 – 4 March 2016) was a Welsh politician and boxing functionary.

Early life

The son of Edward George Brooks and Rachel White, he was born in 1927 and educated at

Coleg Harlech Coleg Harlech was a residential adult education college for mature students in Harlech, Gwynedd, later on part of Adult Learning Wales - Addysg Oedolion Cymru. History It was Wales' only long-term, mature-student residential education colleg ...

Career

Between 1966 and 1984, Brooks was Secretary of the

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 ...

party for Cardiff South-East constituency. In the

February 1974 The following events occurred in February 1974: February 1, 1974 (Friday) *Joelma fire, A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The bl ...

and October 1974 general election, he contested

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

for Labour. Brooks was an elected Cardiff

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for the

Splott Splott ( cy, Y Sblot) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Spl ...

ward."Jack Brooks"
''

South Wales Echo The ''South Wales Echo'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Cardiff, Wales and distributed throughout the surrounding area. It has a circulation of 7,573. Background The newspaper was founded in 1884 and was based in Thomson House, ...

'', 25 February 2005. Retrieved 2013-05-04. He became leader of

South Glamorgan County Council South Glamorgan County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir De Morgannwg) was the local government authority that administered the county of South Glamorgan, Wales from its creation in 1974 until its abolition in 1996. History Local government in England and ...

(SGCC), known for his "strong leadership style" and his effective control of the Labour Party group during the 1980s. When he replaced Reverend Bob Morgan as leader it was described as a 'coup', with Brooks deciding a tougher leadership was required. Brooks was widely seen as being enormously influential on the future leader of SGCC and

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

Russell Goodway Russell Vivian Goodway (born 23 December 1955) is a Welsh Labour Party councillor for Ely, Cardiff; and the former Lord Mayor of Cardiff and former CEO of Cardiff Chamber of Commerce. He was Britain's youngest council leader when he led South G ...

. In the 1979 Dissolution Honours, he became a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Brooks of Tremorfa, of

Tremorfa Tremorfa (Welsh for ''Tre'' town + ''morfa'' coastal marsh) is a district and (since 2016) community of the city of Cardiff, Wales. It falls into the Splott ward of Cardiff. Transport Tremorfa is served by the Cardiff Bus 11 route (was 61 for ...

in the County of Glamorgan. After many years acting as agent to former Prime Minister Jim Callaghan. He further received an Honorary Fellowship of the

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff , image_name = Shield of Cardiff Metropolitan University.svg , image_size = 150px , motto = cy, Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth , mottoeng = The most valuable possession is knowledge , established = 2011 – Car ...

(UWIC). As Deputy Chairman of the

Cardiff Bay Development Corporation The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was set up by the United Kingdom Government on 3 April 1987 to redevelop one sixth of the area of Cardiff to create Cardiff Bay. Objectives The Secretary of State for Wales, Nicholas Edwards set out the ...

(and representative for the Council), he was pivotally instrumental in the redevelopment of the Docks area of Cardiff now known worldwide as

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of w ...

. Having been vice-chairman of the

British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

between 1999 and 2000, he was its steward since 1986 and its president since 2004. After the former boxer

Michael Watson Michael Watson (born 15 March 1965) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1991. He held the Commonwealth middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and challenged three times for a world title between 1990 and 1991. Wats ...

won a negligence case against the BBBoC in 2001, the board had to sell its London headquarters to raise £400,000 to pay compensation. To avoid bankruptcy the board had to reduce its overheads and Brooks was instrumental in moving the board's head office to Cardiff. Brooks was a former chairman of the

Welsh Sports Hall of Fame The Welsh Sports Hall of Fame (WSHOF) is a charitable organisation created to commemorate the sporting achievements and preserve the artefacts of Welsh athletes. It was established in 1980 from the memorabilia collection of Welsh radio commentato ...

from 1988 and

Sportsmatch Wales Sportsmatch U.K. Ltd. was formerly known as J & J Ford Ltd until 1992 when the name was changed. The company was formed by John Ford in 1972. John set up making scope mounts and scope rings but after 16 years the Sportsmatch GC2 air rifle was b ...

from 1992. In 1994, he was made a Deputy Lieutenant of

South Glamorgan , Government= South Glamorgan County Council , Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–) , Start= 1974 , End= 1996 , Arms= , HQ= ...

Personal life

Brooks married in 1948 to Zetta Fussell and was divorced in 1956. They had 2 daughters and 1 son. In 1958, he married Margaret Pringle, with whom he had 2 sons by his second wife. Lord Brooks died on 4 March 2016 at the age of 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, John 1927 births 2016 deaths Deputy Lieutenants of South Glamorgan Brooks of Tremorfa People associated with Cardiff Metropolitan University Members of South Glamorgan County Council Councillors in Cardiff Welsh Labour councillors Leaders of local authorities of Wales Life peers created by Elizabeth II