Ex-councillor reflects on 42 years service

But it was also different due to one noticeable absentee who missed his first AGM in more than four decades – Ian Shires.

The former Walsall Liberal Democrat group leader lost his Willenhall North seat to the Conservatives in the local elections on May 6, bringing down the curtain on an unbroken stint of 42 years as a borough councillor.

The result left the 76-year-old gutted and stunned family, friends, colleagues and his political rivals who gave him a standing ovation. Council leader and long-time political foe Mike Bird even gave a speech at the count, paying tribute to Mr Shires’ career.

Now, he said he was looking to use his wealth of experience and open up new doors, having closed the councillor one behind him.

Mr Shires said: “I was gutted. However, to be honest, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

“Because of Covid-19, we just haven’t been able to operate as we normally would. Usually, we’d be keeping in touch with people via regular newsletters and being out there but with the pandemic that wasn’t possible.

“Also, the country is different. When we left the EU, the country split, and I don’t know how we will recover from that. I’m not one of those saying we should go back in. We’re out, now we need to keep the UK together.

“It was a good run – 42 years. The reaction from family and friends was of surprise and shock. They were gutted for me.

“I’ve had loads of letters, emails, people coming to my door across parties. So all that kept me busy and taught me there are people out there who value what you do.

“The AGM was the first one I’ve missed for 42 years. I didn’t watch it live but I did have a look at it after and, to be honest, I’m glad I wasn’t there in some respects.

“This thing about forcing councils back into face-to-face meetings whilst being socially distanced is a nonsense. I do wonder what the reasoning behind it is. After all, Parliament is still meeting remotely.

“Something that came out of Covid was the massive advances made for virtual meetings and we were engaging with far more people and attendances were far better.”

He is coming up to his first full month of not being a councillor having completed 504 in a row. When he was first elected, Margaret Thatcher swept into Number 10.

There has since been six Prime Ministers and 15 England football managers in the past 42 years. In Walsall, there has been around a dozen council leaders and 10 chief executives as well as 41 Mayors.

Mr Shires moved to Willenhall in 1975 with his wife of 53 years Doreen and it is here where his political career began.

He had stopped Stuart Perry – the first Liberal elected back on to the council post war – to talk to him about a lack of noise barriers between his back garden and the nearby M6 motorway.

He said: “He was delivering newsletters so I stopped and asked him what he was going to do about it.

“But he turned it around and asked ‘What are you going to do about it? I can help you if you want to do something.’ And so, I got involved. The rest is history.

“I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d have been there 42 years later with people trusting me with their vote for that long.

“The first time I stood in 1978, I came bottom. But in 1979 I came top beating a Conservative. It took them 42 years to get rid of me!

“God only knows how many elections I won. I stood three years on the trot when I first got elected.”

Over the years, he has seen many changes, not least when they altered boundaries and created the Short Heath ward. Locally, estates such as Coppice Farm and Allens Rough didn’t exist when he first arrived either.

Other changes have included the loss of area committees and boards and the introduction of a cabinet and scrutiny system – none of which he approves of.

He said: “There were many characters years ago and those have gone and there are so many rules and regulations now.

“Doreen got on the council in 1980 and she served 36 years. She never had the credit for what she did. I missed having her there in the council chamber. It was a partnership.

“The process today has gotten further away from people. We used to have area planning committees. You’d have meetings in the towns that made up Walsall such as Willenhall.

“Under the cabinet and scrutiny process, most of the decisions are made behind closed doors. It was modelled on Westminster but MPs are full time and councillors are not.

“If you’re on the cabinet it takes up a lot of your time. A lot of people who have the skills won’t do it because their bosses won’t give them the time off to do it.”

During his time on the council, the Liberal Democrats under Mr Shires formed coalitions with both Labour and the Conservatives and was cabinet member for change as well as for community.

Other committees he served on included policy and resources, highways and public works, Willenhall area planning, economy and environment scrutiny, policy and resources and housing.

He was also part of the executive tasked with turning Walsall’s fortunes around when, in 2002, the authority was branded the worst in the country due to failing services and poor financial management.

But now the political door has closed, Mr Shires said he would be looking to use his vast experience as a councillor and in his working life as a financial advisor to continue to help people.

He said: “I’m looking for something else – there’s lot of things I still want to do. I won’t be sticking my feet up or playing golf. That just isn’t me.

“I can still help other people. I can perhaps sit on boards and make sure those in power do deliver. I can hold them to account and be a critical friend.

“It’s never been about the politics but it has been about the community Doreen and I live in, and wanting to make changes to the way the council works, making it fairer and more accessible to the public. It’s always been about fairness.”