Tributes to former Walsall mayor and council leader Brian Powell

Brian Powell represented St Matthews and Palfrey wards, as council leader and also as the mayor of the borough in 1987.

He died at 4am on April 10, his close friend Pete Smith said.

The news comes after another former mayor of Walsall, Malcolm Barton, died on Monday after catching coronavirus.

Mr Smith said: "It’s with great sadness that we have heard of the death of Brian Powell, a close personal friend and political ally from the early 1970s.

"He died at the Manor Hospital after a short illness (not related to coronavirus). Our first thoughts are obviously with Brian’s close and loving family at this time.

"Brian played a long and memorable part in Walsall’s recent local history. First elected as a Labour councillor for the Pleck ward in his early 20s way back in 1961, Brian went on to later represent the St. Matthews ward and later still, the Palfrey ward.

"In the 1960s and early 1970s, Brian played a key role in Walsall’s housing history, leading the call for the demolition of hundreds of Victorian terraced properties with no inside toilets or running hot water and their replacement with new council homes.

"He played a key role in the Caldmore Action Group, later to become the Caldmore Housing Association, led by the late Barrie Blower that saw the regeneration of much of the Caldmore area and beyond with new affordable rentable homes.

"As the Labour Leader of Walsall Council in the early 1980s, Brian was the leader who first had the idea of setting up neighbourhood offices, believing that the decentralisation of local services and local residents control of such services was the way forward.

"Thus Walsall, under Brian Powell’s leadership was the first authority to open numerous neighbourhood offices in the borough, a move later copied by local councils across the country.

"Brian also served for many years in the 1980s as the chair of Walsall’s Community Relations Council, at the time the biggest voluntary organisation in the borough, fighting racism and promoting greater equality.

"From back in the 1970s to 2020 Brian Powell was an inspiration to so many, especially younger members of the Labour Party, myself included.

"He played a big part in recruiting so many younger members of the Labour Party, many of whom went on to greater positions themselves.

"Brian Powell always put his Socialist principles before personal ambition and like many of us, parted company with the Labour Party when the national party under Tony Blair, blocked our local plans for further decentralisation of council services to neighbourhood level.

"This led to Brian and many of his colleagues, losing their party membership and positions as Labour councillors in the mid/late 1990s.

"Up to the time of his death, Brian was the chair of the Walsall Socialist Group. Sadly within the last three weeks, we have lost both its vice chair (former Councillor Steph Peart) and now its chair, Brian Powell.

"Brian Powell is part of Walsall’s recent history and of him we can certainly say that 'he made a difference'.

"He strived for and achieved change for the better and inspired others to do likewise... no mean achievement! I say on behalf of his Socialist colleagues in particular but no doubt so many others as well, that we are proud of his contribution, will miss him dearly and never forget him."

Councillor Mike Bird, Leader of Walsall Council said: “I was saddened to learn of the passing of former Councillor Brian Powell.

"Brian served the people of Walsall for many years, representing St Matthews and Palfrey wards, as council leader and also as the mayor of the borough in 1987.

"I am sure I speak for the whole council when I say our thoughts are very much with the family at this very sad time.”