Sir Mark Henig (11 February 1911 – 30 January 1979) was a British politician and businessman,

Lord Mayor of Leicester The position of Lord Mayor of Leicester is a mainly ceremonial post, being the title of the chairman of the Leicester City Council. The Mayor is elected annually by the members of the council. The role of Lord Mayor is in many ways similar to ...

and the first chairman of the

English Tourist Board VisitEngland is the official tourist board for England. Before 1999 it was known as the English Tourist Board and between 1999 and 2009 as the English Tourism Council. In 2003, it merged with the British Tourist Authority to form VisitBritain bef ...

Early life

Mark Henig was born in Leicester on 11 February 1911. He was educated at

Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys was a grammar school in Leicester, England, in existence from 1876 to 1976. It was succeeded by the present-day Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College. History After William Wyggeston's death in 1536, his bro ...

Career

After leaving school, Henig went to work for his father's company, the Leicester wholesale textile distributors, Henig & Sons Limited, where he later became a director. Henig was elected as a Labour member to

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently control ...

in 1945, and remained one until 1970. From 1949 to 1962, he was secretary and whip of the Labour group. In 1965, he became the leader of the group. He was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

from 1958–70, and was High Bailiff in 1965. Henig was chairman of the Association of Municipal Corporations from 1966 to 1967, and of the East Midland Economic Council from 1968 to 1971. Henig was Lord Mayor of Leicester from 1967 to 1968, one of three Jewish men (the others being Sir Israel Hart and Cecil Harris) who had been mayor or lord mayor of Leicester. In 1969, Henig was appointed to the Royal Commission on the Constitution, headed by Lord Crowther and later Lord Kilbrandon which was set the task of examining the UK constitution. It produced a lengthy report four years later. In 1969, Henig was the first chairman of the English Tourist Board, a role in which he continued for ten years until his death in 1979. He was twice president of the Leicester Hebrew Congregation, and a passionate supporter of Israel.

Honours and awards

He was knighted in 1965 for services to Leicester.

Personal life

His son,

Stanley Henig Stanley Henig (born 7 July 1939) is a British academic and former Labour Party politician. He was Deputy Pro-Chancellor of Lancaster University from 2006 until 2011. Early life Stanley Henig was born on 7 July 1939 in Leicester, the son of t ...

, was a Labour MP and Lancaster council leader. His grandson

Simon Henig Simon Antony Henig (born June 1969) is a British politician, former leader of Durham County Council, and since 15 April 2014, chair of the North East Combined Authority (NECA). Early life Simon Henig was born in June 1969, the son of the form ...

is also a Labour politician and in 2009 he became the leader of Durham County Council.ANEC Vice Chair - Councillor Simon Henig
, Association of North East Councils, retrieved 10 April 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henig, Mark 1911 births 1979 deaths British Jews Mayors of places in Leicestershire People educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys People from Leicester Knights Bachelor Jewish British politicians