The new Mayor's Acceptance speech in full

When I was first elected to this Council in 1965 at the age of 21 I was, reputedly, the Town's youngest ever Councillor- a record which stood for over 25 years until I was pipped to the post by a councillor 5 days my junior. So I am very proud today to now be setting what I believe to be a second record - for the longest period between first election to the Council and being installed as Mayor. Just under half a century - a mere 46 years! (I suspect that it may be a record which will stand for some time.)

And I can assure you today that it has been well worth waiting for.

For I can truly think of no greater honour that to be elected Mayor of the town in which I was born - the town which made me

·        A town that as a child protected my health in its clinics

·        that educated me in its schools

·        that provided me with parks and playgrounds to play in

·        and later, when I was married and the father of a young family, presented me the keys of a fine modern house on the Mendip Estate.

And, of course, what all these things had in common is that they were provided by what was then the 'Southend County Borough Council' in what must now be seen as a Golden Age of Local Government. A time in the mid1960s when we were putting up fine buildings like this one, the Cliffs Pavilion and a large number of new schools and homes in the borough.

And I don't believe that I am looking back with rose tinted spectacles when I say that it was a era of CIVIC PRIDE when our residents were on the whole - Proud to be Southenders.

And I firmly believe that it is a spirit we as a Council must now seek to recapture however hard a task that may be.

Can I begin with a word of thanks to the Council as a whole. It is a matter of historical record that in nearly 100 years in the town my Party has never achieved a majority on this Council. Let me stress that I am not making a political point here - quite the reverse - for the fact that there have been 5 Labour Mayors during that period (and its my privilege to have known them all) has been possible wholly due to the generosity of the larger political groups. You agreed to and continue to honour a fair and honest system of succession to the Mayoralty based entirely on length of service - for which I thank you all.

I have been lucky today to have had the opportunity to invite a large number of guests. Time doesn't permit me to welcome them all by name, but if the others will forgive me, I would just like to mention a few for their particular role in the milestone of my life.

·        First of all I am pleased to be joined by four of my original class mates from Leigh North Street primary school- a school which gave us all the best possible start in life.

·        Second, from Westcliff High School for Boys (which to its credit managed to educate me in spite of myself) may I offer a special welcome to my long suffering teacher Jim Harrison. Jim has served our school for over half a century and still reminds me from time to time that I still owe him a considerable amount of homework! Jim is accompanied today by the present Deputy Head of the School Michael Skelly and several representatives of the Old Westcliffian Association of which I am proud to currently be President elect.

·        For I recognise that it was the grounding I received at Westcliff High enabled me (eventually) at age 26 to go on to Oxford University . And I am therefore also very pleased to welcome here today Professor Audrey Mullender , current Principal of Ruskin College Oxford where I chair the Governors and also her predecessor Jim Durcan and his wife Mary-, some of my oldest and dearest friends.

If we are lucky, friendships made at school go on to last a lifetime and one of my most durable associations for me has been that with Alan Hurst. Alan at the age of 18 was my agent when I was first elected to the Council and went on to have a distinguished career of his own as a long serving member of this Council ,Labour Group Leader and later, Member of Parliament for Braintree. I am pleased to welcome Alan back to this Chamber today.

Whilst I never myself made it as an MP as I had once hoped to do, I was very fortunate to have enjoyed a rewarding career in the Trade Union movement -and a number of my friends and colleagues from the Communication Workers Union have joined us this afternoon .including two who definitely went on to higher things Baroness Drake with whom I had the pleasure of working for over 30 years and the Right Honourable Alan Johnson, I am very grateful to you both for making the time to be here today.

I would also wish to extend a warm welcome to all the members of my family who have made it here this afternoon, my 2 brothers, my mother in law and brother in law, my sisters in law, my nieces, my own children, my step children and of course my grand children.
I would also like to extend a special welcome to my first wife, Carol, and her husband John and thank them for coming from Nottingham to be here, this afternoon. Without Carol's support and sacrifice in our early years I could never have achieved any of the things that I subsequently have done in life.

Finally, thought not a guest, but of course present here today, I must of course give thanks to my dear wife Jane for bringing me home  to Southend, my land of lost content, after an absence of over 20 years. Had it not been for Jane I would not be standing here now. Jane, long may we watch the sun set over Canvey Island together.

As my proposer Ian Gilbert kindly said earlier, the Methodist Church has been an important influence in my life and a very present help in time of trouble. It was the Youth Organisations of Leigh Wesley Church that first put me up on a stage and encouraged me to speak - some would say that they have a lot to answer for!

So it is with great pleasure that I am inviting the current Minister of Leigh Wesley my friend the Rev Keith Page to be my Chaplain for the coming year. I know you will wish him well.

Now I should like to turn to my Charities.

Ten years ago when I first rejoined the Council the then Mayor, Howard Briggs set up the 'Southend Fund'. In its 10 year existence it has distributed tens of thousands of pounds to local good causes in the town including valuable community projects in my own ward of Victoria. I am pleased to now count Howard as a personal friend and have greatly admired the work of the Charity he founded. I therefore intend to work closely with the Southend Fund in the coming year and the Fund, in turn, will be giving support to my two personal charities: The first of these is a Charity called 'Combat Stress' the UKs leading military charity supporting veterans with wounded minds. It delivers specialist treatment and support to veterans who have been traumatised or otherwise affected by harrowing experiences during their service lives. Looking back Jane and I believe both our fathers were profoundly affected by their service in World War 2 and we know we are not alone in this. In the past year Combat Stress has received nearly 1,500 new referrals and its services are increasingly needed by servicemen who have been involved in recent conflicts.

My second charity is a small Essex based group called 'SAFE' - 'Supporting Asperger Families in Essex ' which provides help and support to local families affected by this complex and often misunderstood condition. SAFE also has an active presence here in Southend.

These are, as we know, tough times for all Charities and I sincerely hope that all members of the Council will consider giving support to the many events organised by the Southend Fund on my behalf during the coming year.

There is just one final point I wish to make before (you will be pleased to hear) I wind up!

In the past few years there have been times when I have watched my grand children playing in Priory Park just as my grand parents once watched me, or with them enjoyed exploring the by ways and alleys of Old Leigh seeing Southend through their young eyes - and have thought to myself what a wonderful town this still is to grow up in.

And then, I have gone home, picked up the local papers to be confronted, day in and day out, by letters apparently from Grumpy Old Men, all to the effect that 'Southend is going to the dogs and that entire Council are a bunch of idiots' or nostalgically musing that the town has never been the same since the Toast Rack trams stopped running in September 1939! or similar sentiments.

And I have to say it saddens me, as I think it saddens many of us.

Let me make clear I am under no illusions that the Mayor's authority is anything other that transitory. The period of Mayoral office is little longer than the life span of a butterfly - his or her influence at the end of the day may only be slight - particularly with an Austerity budget as mine must of necessity, be.

But I pledge to you now that during my period as Mayor I would like to play some small part in rebuilding Civic Pride and respect for the Council in our town with your help, I intend to do so.

So looking back over the past 46 years I am perhaps unusual in having served on this council in my 20s, my 50s and now, my 60s. I must confess that during the period in between (my 30s and 40s) I was on reflection far too driven by personal ambition. But I can honestly say that the last 10 years in which I have had the honour to again serve as a member of this Council have been the most rewarding and happiest in my working life - for which I thank all Members of the Council, and the Officers and Staff with whom I have worked during that time.

So perhaps for me my long journey to this honoured position is probably best summed up in the final lines of what is still my favourite film - 'The Wizard of Oz' and I share those words with you now

"Next time I go looking for my hearts desire, I'll not look further than my own back yard!"

Ladies and gentlemen, I look forward to serving the Council and our town in the coming year.

THANK YOU.