Reginald Braithwaite Chrimes (December 1924 – 13 September 2021) was a British Labour Party politician. Chrimes was born in

Neston Neston is a town and civil parish on the Wirral Peninsula, in Cheshire, England. It is part of the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The village of Parkgate is located to the north west and the villages of Little Neston and Ness ...

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 ...

in December 1924. He was educated at

Calday Grange Grammar School Calday Grange Grammar School (abbreviated to CGGS; also known as Calday Grange, Calday Grammar or simply Calday due to the difference in spelling to the nearby village of Caldy) is a non-denominational, academically selective grammar school, fo ...

West Kirby West Kirby is a resort town on the north-west corner of the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England, at the mouth of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, to th ...

, then trained to be a teacher at the Sefton Park Training College. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, he worked as a teacher, and also joined the Labour Party.''The Times House of Commons'' (1959) He was elected to

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

in 1949, representing

Little Neston Little Neston is a village south of Neston and situated on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, England. Little Neston is administratively part of Cheshire West and Chester and had a population of 3,390 at the 2001 Census. The settlement was mention ...

. He stood in the 1951 UK general election in the Wirral, taking second place with 34.8% of the vote. That year, he became chair of the Wirral Constituency Labour Party, serving until 1953. Chrimes stood again in Wirral at the 1955 UK general election, his vote share falling back to 32.6%. From 1955 to 1956 he was chair of the Neston UDC, and he later served a lengthy stint as its leader. At the 1959 UK general election, he switched to contest

Manchester Blackley Manchester, Blackley was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. In boundary changes for the ...

, taking another second place, with a 37.7% share. In 1974, the Neston UDC became part of Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council. Chrimes won the same Little Neston ward, and became deputy leader of the new council, serving under Fred Venables. In recognition of his long service, he was made a freeman of the borough in 1995, while in the

2001 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2001 was announced on 16 June 2001 for the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), New Zealand (4 June), Australia (11 June), Barbados, Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sai ...

, he was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. Venables stood down in 2005, and Chrimes was elected unopposed as his replacement. He retired in 2007, at which point he was the longest-serving councillor in the UK. He stated that he had never taken an allowance for his work, and that his proudest achievement was reducing the level of unemployment in the borough. He was made an honorary alderman. In 2009, Ellesmere Port and Neston became part of

Cheshire West and Chester Council Cheshire West and Chester Council is the local authority of Cheshire West and Chester. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services ...

, a change which Chrimes supported. Just before its dissolution, it presented Chrimes with a certificate in recognition of his past service. In 2017, the Mayor of Neston met with him and other surviving members of the Neston UDC. Chrimes died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on 13 September 2021, at the age of 96. He was survived by his wife, Doreen, his son and daughter, and four grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chrimes, Reg 1924 births 2021 deaths Councillors in Cheshire Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Neston Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force personnel Military personnel from Cheshire