Former Essex Lib Dem Councillor Derek Hardy died earlier this year. His daughter Janet Hardy-Gould wrote an obituary for the Guardian which appeared online in October but has only recently been published in the paper itself.
Of his political work, Janet writes:
Having joined Ilford Young Liberals in 1945, Derek retained an interest in politics, and first stood for the London county council as a Liberal candidate in the early 1960s. Moving out of the capital in 1967 to Kelvedon Hatch, near Brentwood, Essex, he stood as a Liberal then a Liberal Democrat candidate in many local elections.
He was elected to Essex county council in 1985, retired from teaching and embarked on a career in politics. This included 12 years as an Essex county councillor, becoming chair of education in 1995, 25 years as a parish councillor and 17 years as a Brentwood borough councillor, becoming the mayor of Brentwood in 2002, and, finally, alderman in 2015. From 1990 to 2014, he was also board member at Outlook Care, which provides support for vulnerable people across Essex.
We send our condolences to Derek’s family. If anyone has any memories of Derek, please feel free to share them in the comments.
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