Mair Eluned Garside (born Mair Eluned Rees, 30 August 1931 – 28 April 2018) was a

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 ...

politician in London for more than 60 years. Mair Garside

She was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in August 1931. She studied at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

. On 30 July 1954 at Maendy Congregational Chapel,

Maindy Maindy ( cy, Maendy, meaning ''Stone House'') is a district of the city of Cardiff, Wales. Its boundaries are not formally recognised by Cardiff Council, and the district falls within the Cathays ward and Gabalfa. A notable facility in the area ...

, Glamorgan, she married Hugh Garside (1928-1993) from

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

; they had met through the National Association of Labour Student Organisations. They moved to Westminster and lived in Tachbrook Street,

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...

. She was a friend of John Lanchester's mother, Julia. She represented Woolwich West on the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

(1958 - 1961), and then Greenwich (1970 – 1973) and Woolwich East (1973 – 1986) 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 ...

. She was Chair of Governors for Waterfield School in Thamesmead and on the Court of Governors of

Thames Polytechnic The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. She became deputy leader (to

Ashley Bramall Sir Ernest Ashley Bramall (6 January 1916 – 10 February 1999) was a British Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for Bexley from 1946 to 1950 and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) for 11 years. Family and early c ...

) of the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corpor ...

(ILEA) and chairman of the ILEA Development subcommittee. She was awarded Freedom of the London Borough of Greenwich and later of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. She was a member of

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

from 1996-1998 representing Millbank Ward. Bramall was her agent in the election. She was still active as a candidate in the

2014 Westminster City Council election The 2014 Westminster City Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Westminster City Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. Overall results The Conservatives retained control of the council, ...

at the age of 83. In 2015 she was chosen by the

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

to appear on a hustings panel for the Labour leadership election, supporting Yvette Cooper. Garside was the secretary of the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services in the 1960s, and active in many local organisations, taking the role of chair of governors at Pimlico School from 2005–07, and as a director of the Peabody Community Foundation from 2000 to 2011. She was an active member of

Llafur Llafur (''Labour'' in Welsh) – the full name of which is Llafur: The Welsh People's History Society – was founded in 1970 as ''Llafur: The Society for the Study of Welsh Labour History'' to promote the study of the history of the working peop ...

: The Welsh People's History Society and helped to establish a London branch. Garside House in Regency Street, Westminster, is named after the couple and has a plaque which she unveiled in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garside, Mair 1931 births 2018 deaths Members of London County Council Members of the Greater London Council Councillors in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Politicians from Cardiff People from Pimlico Women councillors in England Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the City of Westminster