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John Hamilton in 1964

John Hamilton, 1922-2006

In December 2006, just as the current city leaders were putting together the final preparations for the celebration of Liverpool's 800th anniversary in 2007, John Hamilton, a former leader of the City Council during the turbulent 1980s, died after a period of illness. A quiet, courteous and private man, he dedicated his life to the public service of the people of Liverpool throughout much of twentieth century.

Born in Wavertree in 1922, into a close knit and politically active family, he was an only child and bachelor. It was within this environment that that his own values of Christian socialism, where civil liberties and human rights are respected, were forged. An old fashioned Labour man, John followed his father into the political arena and was elected onto Liverpool City Council in 1958, representing the Granby ward.

A respected teacher and headmaster also, he naturally put great value on education as a means of social and cultural advancement, becoming a passionate advocate of the comprehensive system. Of his time teaching at St Kevin's School in Kirkby in the 1970s, he proudly remembered the first boy to make it through that system and on to Oxford University, "all of the teachers cheered - we've done it, we've got him in!"

In 1974 John was elected leader of the ruling Labour group on the City Council. But it was between 1983 and 1987, during one of the most dramatic and infamous periods in Liverpool's history, that he became a prominent local and national figure. Set against the backdrop of high local unemployment, riots in Toxteth and difficult social conditions across the city generally, 49 Labour councillors, including John who was now Leader of the City Council, challenged the Conservative government of the time. The 49 councillors, fearful of a cut in services, refused to set a budget for the city, an act that put them on a collision course with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government. Within that Labour group a small faction of the 49 councillors, known as 'the militant tendency', became the focus of much national media attention and the period was often referred to as the 'militant era'. Eventually, 47 councillors (two had died during the struggle) were taken to the High Court, forced out of office and banned for a further five years.

Banned from office, he continued to be active locally, serving on many committees and lecturing in politics up until the final months of his life. Throughout his personal life he retained his strong faith and, like his family before, remained a committed Quaker.

In November 2005 John was interviewed for our project, and you can listen and read extracts from that conversation below.

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