In the re-organisation of local government, Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth were combined to form the new Warwick District Council (WDC). 11 of the 58 members were allocated to Kenilworth.
Five re-counts were required in the closely contested Park Hill ward, where Graham Bramwell beat Spencer Harrison by just two votes for the second available seat.
Liberals dominated in the combined Abbey & Borrowell ward, gaining all three seats. Overall they had five candidates elected in the town.
Within the WDC, the Liberals have just seven seats, which may not seem many. But they now hold the balance of power at the new council, as the Tories hold 26 seats and Labour 25.
WDC Standings (58 seats)
26 Consevative Party
25 Labour Party
7 Liberal Party
NO OVERALL CONTROL
Kenilworth District Councillors
5 Liberals (B. Butler, G. Bramwell, H. Dore, H. Thomas, J. Bastock)
4 Conservatives (K. Rawnsley, E. Burbidge, J. Wilson, T. Robinson)
Any influence the Liberals had on the WDC has now finally diminished following this election. Three years ago they had the balance of power with just seven members, the Tories and Labour having a similar number of seats. In Kenilworth they were down to just two councillors. In Abbey ward, Helen Dore and Jack Bastock were returned but Haydn Thomas was unseated. Two other Liberals failed to be re-elected, Bob Butler and George Bramwell in Park Hill. Within the district the Liberals only have three members left.
For the Tories, is was a good day with three of their members being re-elected, plus five new councillors. This doubled their Kenilworth representation from the 1973 poll. In the district, the Tories took overall control.
Labour were down to only one councillor, Bill Wozencroft, who successfully retained his seat in St. John’s. Chris Webster who had been elected at the 1973 poll, did not seek re-election.
Kenilworth District Councillors
8 Conservatives (M. Coker, K. Hogarth, J. Wilson, T. Robinson, R. Monnington, H. Potts, A. Pearce, K. Rawnsley)
This by-election was called due to the resignation of member Ann Pearce, who was leaving the town and moving to London with her husband.
But the Tories held the seat with a majority of 44. Winner, Spencer Harrison had contested the inaugural district council election in 1973 but lost by just 2 votes in Park Hill to Liberal, Graham Bramwell. He did not stand in last years poll.
Mr Harrison is 52-years-old and lives in Station Road. He is a director of Buckingham Swimming Pools in Priory Road and has four children, all attending local schools. He had previous been on the old Kenilworth Urban District Council for seven years, also representing Park Hill.
Kenilworth District Councillors
8 Conservatives (M.Coker, J. Wilson, T. Robinson, R. Monnington, H. Potts, K. Rawnsley, K. Hogarth, S. Harrison)
Not for many years has a Kenilworth election produced such a large turnout of voters. But as it was the same day as the General Election, so it wasn’t surprising. Every ward produced more that 80%, un-heard of in local elections. In the event, the Liberals gained two seats from the Tories, much to everyones surprise. The lone Labour voice is Bill Wozencroft, who retained his seat by topped the poll at St John’s with 790 votes.
Liberal, Helen Dore received the highest vote in the election, 1,986 in Abbey & Borrowell.
Four Conservatives who seeked re-election retained their seats. One surprise return to the Tory ranks was James Whitby. He was first elected in Kenilworth in 1964, during the days of the old KUDC but did not seek re-election in the 1967 poll. The Tories also saw the return of Spencer Harrision, another veteran of the old council.
In Kenilworth, the Tories took 46.6% of votes cast, Liberals 39.7% and Labour 13.5%.
WDC Standings (58 seats)
40 Conservative Party
13 Labour Party
4 Liberal Party
1 Ratepayers of Whitnash
22 SEAT OVERALL MAJORITY
Kenilworth District Councillors
6 Conservatives (J. Pearson, J. Whitby, R. Monnington, S. Harrison, M. Coker, K. Rawnsley)
4 Liberals (R. Butler, H. Dore, J. Bastock, H. Thomas)
This by-election was called due to the resignation of Liberal, Helen Dore, who had been on the district council since its inception in 1973.
Graham Windybank, leader of the town council, managed to retain the seat for the Liberals by a majority of 76 over rival, John Cooke. It was never going to be an easy task for the Tories who needed more than a 7% swing from 1979 poll.
Labour candidate, Melanie Lomas, a former Kenilworth Grammar School pupil, faced an up-hill struggle to get anywhere near the winning line. District elections for Labour have always been difficult in Kenilworth, especially in Abbey & Borrowell, where they have never had a candidate elected.
The district council had reduced the number of councillors down to 45 from the previous 58. This left Kenilworth with only 8 seats to contest, which meant a restructuring of the ward boundaries and the reduction from five to three wards. This did not go down well with the Liberals. Abbey & Borrowell was renamed just Abbey, with Castle and Windy Arbour wards disappearing.
The Conservatives took seven of the seats, leaving only one Liberal left, Bob Butler, who only retained his seat by two votes, over Tory Tony Dalton in Park Hill. But Jack Bastock and Haydn Thomas were the biggest casulties of all the Liberals, both being dumped from Abbey ward. Mr Thomas said; “There is no doubt the boundary changes have helped the Tories and the Labour party took votes off us”. He added; “People voting Labour had effectively put the Tories in. If it were not for the Labour vote the Liberals would have been comfortably elected”.
Town mayor, Labour’s Bill Wozencroft, lost his seat in St. John’s. The newly formed Social Democratic Party (SDP) didn’t fair well either, their two candidates, John Whitehouse and Mary Harrison being unsuccessful in St. John’s.
Six of the Tories who stood for re-election, retained their seats. For John Cooke, this was the first district council election he had contested beating Liberal rival Jack Bastock by just 21 votes.
WDC Standings (46 seats)
31 Conservative Partry
7 Labour Party
5 Liberal Party
3 Whitnash Ratepayers Association
17 SEAT OVERALL MAJORITY
Kenilworth District Councillors
7 Conservatives (M. Coker, J. Cooke, B. Wooller, J. Wilson, J. Whitby, S. Harrison, K. Rawnsley)
Bob Butler, of the SDP-Liberal Alliance, the soul survivor of the 1983 poll, lost his seat in Park Hill. He was very disappointed and puzzled by the result. He also lost his town council seat, and said he is contemplating standing down from local politics. He said; “This might be my ‘swan song’, I’ve worked hard in Kenilworth for the last 12 years but if this is what the voters want, then that is what they will get, you never really know the reasons why. I haven’t faced any animosity from people or the oppostion”.
Town Mayor-elect, Bob Wooller was delighted with the Kenilworth and overall district results, saying it is down to the hard working Tory group. Councillor Rawnsley, currently the leader of the Conservative group on the district council, believed the success was due to their record over the last four years. He was disappointed to lose three councillors in Leamington but happy that they had a sweeping success in Kenilworth.
WDC Standings
29 Conservatives
7 Labour
6 SDP- Liberal Alliance
3 Whitnash Ratepayers Association
Overall Majority 29
Kenilworth District Councillors
8 Conservatives (K. Rawnsley, M. Coker, J. Cooke, B. Wooller, J. Wilson, J. Whitby, T. Dalton, S. Harrison)
Former Quarry Road resident Thomas Litterick was born in Clydeside, Glasgow in 1929 to working-class parents, William and Annie.
The family moved south, probably to find work. In the 1939 register, the family were living at Standard Ave in Coventry. His father was recorded as being an ‘Engine Assembly Fitter’, probably in the car industry, as the city was a major car manufacturer.
Arrival In Kenilworth
Thomas eventually became a university lecturer having graduated in economics at Dundee University. He also studed at the University of St. Andrews. He lecturered at both Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry University), and at Aston Universityin Birmingham, on Industrial Relations.
In 1957, Thomas married Jane Ellen Birkenhead at Chippenham and they eventually came to Kenilworth. They moved into a ‘new build’ at 1, Quarry Road, probably in 1966. They had four daughters together. Quarry Road has only four houses and adjoins Malthouse Lane with De Montfort Road.
Political Life – 1970
But it was politics that made Thomas, tick, especially the left-wing variety. This made him a ‘thorn-in-the-flesh’ of not only opposition parties like the conservatives but his own Labour party as well. He was uncompromising as well as outspoken and had strong principles and was never afraid to express his opinions.
But his political life was somewhat of a roller-coaster. His first venture into public office was in the 1970 Kenilworth Urban District Council (KUDC) election when he was elected in the St John’s ward with 521 votes. He then stood in the first ever Warwick District Council (WDC) elections in 1973 but fell short in the combined Abbey & Borrowell ward, finishing 7th out of 10 candidates with only 283 votes. He also contested the Warwickshire County Council elections in 1970 and 1973, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.
His wife Jane, also stood in the 1970 KUDC election, but was un-successful in Castle ward. She last stood in 1976, both at the district and town council elections.
Resignation From KUDC
He remained on the KUDC until 1974, but resigned his seat when all the councillors were automatically transferred to the new Town Council. He believed that a poll should have taken place.
But that same year he was nominated by the Labour Party to stand in the February general election in the Selly Oak constituency, traditionally a Tory seat, but it was marginal. He fell short by 2,882 votes to Tory incumbent Harold Gurden. But when another general election was called in October of the same year, he again went head to head with Gurden, but this time he was triumphant winning by just 326 votes, due to a 3% swing. So his dream had come true, he was now a Member of Parliament on the back-benchs in the Wilson government. His voice would be heard on numerous occasions in the chamber, but he was somewhat surprised at the ‘cat-calling’ abuse that he found there.
Health and Family Issues
But it was in 1977, that he attracted most publicity. Whilst recovering from a heart attack after being on the danger-list in the Coronary Unit of Warwick Hospital, he announced he had left his wife for another woman. But, after recovering and moving to London, he suffered a relapse and was admitted to hospital.
During a press interview his wife said that she put his condition down to many factors, including the death threats they were getting, causing him stress. Indeed, his first heart attack came only hours after he had rushed back home from Westminster following death threats the family had received. She also blamed the long working hours that MPs had to endure and called for the government to change MPs working hours. Kenilworth Police became aware of the deaths threats and put on extra patroles around the area of the Littericks’ home.
The Thatcher Revolution
By the time of the 1979 General Election, the ‘wind of change’ was blowing threw UK politics. Margaret Thatcher had been tory leader since 1975 and her party stormed to a decisive victory over the Callaghan government with an overall majority of 44 seats. Thomas Litterick was one of the casualties, losing his Selly Oak seat by 4,775 votes. This must have been one of the lowest periods of his life. Thatcher would have been his arch nemesis, being on the complete opposite ends of the political spectrum to himself.
Death
Thomas Litterick died in London, on Monday 5th January 1981, he was just 51-years-old. His wife said she did not receive any notification until Tuesday afternoon when her solicitor called round to tell her of the tragic news. A death notice had appeared in The Times but no details of the funeral arrangements were mentioned. Mrs Litterick said that she had never given up hope that he would come back home to the family in Kenilworth.
Of the ‘other woman’ in his life she said; “If she is going through what we are going through, then I feel sorry for her but I appeal to her to let me have Tom’s body back so that he can be buried alongside his parents at Canley Cemetery”. But, on the 8th January, she conceded; “I will be attending the funeral tomorrow at the West London Crematorium”. Her 20-year-old daughter, Tracey, was also there. About 150 people were at the funeral, and his last election rosette was placed on his coffin.
West London Crematorium
Tributes
MP Tony Benn, described him as a remarkable man, and a dedicated socialist. He said he was a fine teacher and a very modest man.
Former Chairman of the Kenilworth Labour Party, Joe England, of Forrest Road, said that in 1973, Mr Litterick told him that there was one thing he’d like to do before he dies was to spend some time in the ‘gasworks’ – his name for the House of Commons. A year later he got his wish.
Love him or loath him, one thing that Thomas Litterick must always be remembered for, is that he was the first Kenilworth resident ever to become an MP.
Jane Litterick continued to live in Quarry Road until her death in 2006, aged 73.
