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.

Career

Between 1966 and 1984, Brooks was Secretary of the Labour party for Cardiff South-East constituency. In the February 1974 and October 1974 general election, he contested Barry for Labour. Brooks was an elected Cardiff

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

for the

Splott Splott () 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 Splott Farms. S ...

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 6,026. Background The newspaper was founded in 1884 and was based in Thomson House, C ...

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

South Glamorgan County Council South Glamorgan County Council () 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 Wales was reorganised in 1 ...

(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 () is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Administrative divisions of Wales, principal areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

, Russell Goodway. 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Brooks of Tremorfa, of Tremorfa 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 (UWIC). As Deputy Chairman of the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (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 (; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and River Ely, Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part ...

. 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 Boxing Council, Commonwealth middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and challenged three times for a world titl ...

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 from 1988 and Sportsmatch Wales from 1992. In 1994, he was made a Deputy Lieutenant of

South Glamorgan South Glamorgan () is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales. It was originally formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a county council area. It consisted of the county borough of Cardiff along with the south ...

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