John Hamilton (2 September 1922 – 14 December 2006) was a British politician. He was a member of the Labour Party and Leader of Liverpool City Council from 1983 to 1986.

Municipal life

Hamilton was a lifelong bachelor and worked as a schoolteacher. He was a member of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

, known as the Quakers, also serving as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

. First elected to the council in 1958, Hamilton became Leader of the Labour Group in 1974 replacing

Bill Sefton William Healy Sefton (January 21, 1915 – May 2, 1982) was an American pole vaulter. Sefton broke the pole vault world record several times in 1937 and placed fourth in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Athletic career Early career Sefton was a g ...

. He led the council from 1976 to 1978, although with no majority he was often overturned by the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

groups acting together. In 1978 Hamilton was briefly deposed as Labour group leader by Eddie Roderick when Labour lost power, but returned after a few weeks.

1980s leadership

He was a left-winger but was not a member of the

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Jo Thomas,
Liverpool's Rebirth: Poverty is never far away
, ''The New York Times'', 17 October 1985. who dominated the Liverpool Labour group at the time. However, as Militant rose Hamilton was allowed to retain the leadership as a figurehead from the left-wing non-Militant members to disguise the fact that real power lay with leading Militants including Deputy Leader

Derek Hatton Derek Anthony Hatton (born 17 January 1948) is a British former politician, later a broadcaster, property developer and businessman. He gained national prominence as deputy leader of Liverpool City Council in the 1980s and was a member of the Tr ...

.Hatton wrote in 1988 "'' amiltonwouldn't harm a fly and we knew that it would be seen as inhumane if we removed someone who, in fairness, had given so many years of his life to the party. So we let him stay as leader. We knew that at no stage would his existence prevent us doing our job. We knew, too, that he had his uses. The moderates who might feel inclined to rock the boat felt safe with Hamilton apparently in charge. If he voted for something, it was good enough for them. We knew he would vote our way. It was more than his job as leader was worth to do otherwise.''" See Derek Hatton, "''A model Militant''", ''Sunday Times'', 21 February 1988. Hamilton knew this, and remarked "When I die I will go to hell with Hatton because he will make it look like heaven."E. Rex Makin, "Don't give honour to militant", ''Liverpool Echo'', 30 September 2005, p. 18. Although a quietly spoken man, at all times Hamilton acted according to his principles: it was for this that he was most respected by all on the left of the Labour Party. After the Labour Party investigation had closed down the District Labour Party and began expulsions of Militant members of the City Council, Hamilton was replaced as Leader by Tony Byrne on 20 November 1986. Byrne was never a Militant memberCrick, Michael, ''The March of Militant'', p242 but had jointly led the budget fight with the government with Militant, Hamilton and others.Alan Dunn, "Left topples Hamilton as Liverpool leader", ''The Guardian'', 21 November 1986.

Later life

Along with 46 other members of the council who had voted to set an illegal budget, Hamilton was surcharged and banned from office for five years in 1987. He retained some posts, including membership of the Liverpool Racial Equality Council.Erlend Clouston, "Race body to fold in 'Vendetta' row", ''The Guardian'', 17 March 1993, p. 5 He was never expelled from the Labour Party, and remained popular, becoming Chairman of

Liverpool Broadgreen Liverpool Broadgreen was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Broadgreen suburb of Liverpool. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created for t ...

Constituency Labour Party in 1987;Alan Dunn, "Local upsets leave MPs facing possible defeat", ''The Guardian'', 16 November 1987. however his attempts to regain a council seat were in vain. Interviewed later, Hamilton was unrepentant about his actions and declared that he would do the same again.Paddy Shennan, "Rebels with Cause", ''Liverpool Echo'', 27 September 2005, p. 10. In 2005 Hamilton declined the offer of being made an Honorary

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

on the nomination of the Labour Group on Liverpool."Ex-militant leader says no to city honour", ''Liverpool Echo'', 1 September 2005, p. 2.

References

External links

Interview
with John Hamilton from Liverpool's 'Nerve' magazine, Autumn 2006.
Ex Liverpool council leader dies

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Former Leader Hamilton dies
''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

'', 14 December 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, John 1922 births 2006 deaths Labour Party (UK) councillors in Liverpool English Quakers Leaders of local authorities of England