Press Release

LGA chariman Sir Simon Milton gives eulogy to former chairman Sandy Bruce-Lockhart

Thursday, August 14 2008

"Sandy Bruce-Lockhart - or Baron Bruce-Lockhart of The Weald in the County of Kent to give him his formal title - was a tour-de-force.

As comfortable with Labour Cabinet ministers as he was with Tories, he was a politician's politician as well as a people's politician, an indefatigable campaigner. And above all he was a loving husband to Tess and father to their three children.

A role model for people wanting to change things for the better.

Controversial - sometimes. Provocative - undoubtedly. Inspirational - absolutely. We can all learn from his legacy.

Filling his shoes at the Local Government Association has been one of the most formidable challenges of my professional life.

So who was Sandy?

Well, The Guardian - not perhaps the first newspaper he would read in the morning - once described him as the "most powerful Tory in Britain".

It was the new millennium. He was leader of the county council in Kent, England's most populous county, had an annual budget of £1 billion, 45,000 employees and European politicians beating a path to his door.

But his ideology cannot be easily pigeon-holed, and perhaps that is a result of his background.

Sandy was born in Yorkshire but spent his twenties managing farms in Zimbabwe, where he railed against the injustices of apartheid and racism, and in Australia. Returning to the UK and settling in Kent, he farmed there, in the Garden of England, for 40 years.

He became a county councillor by accident, being rather cynical about local government. Having fought against council plans for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, he was asked: "Rather than fight the council, why don't you join them?" He did, and changed his mind about the importance of local government in improving the quality of people's lives.

His objectives were simple. To improve public services, widen choice and access, and ensure value for money. And under his eight-year leadership Kent County Council went to the top of the performance league tables.

In 2004, Sandy became chairman of the LGA, a post he held with distinction until July 2007. He was determined to show people that democratic and accountable councils could help create vibrant and prosperous places where people were proud to live.

He was made a life peer in 2006 but he never forgot his roots.

When he was ennobled, he said he fully intended to continue as a county councillor because, as he put it, "if you forget your roots you are not much use on the national sphere".

And then, only last year, when most people would be wanting some r&r, Sandy became the new chairman of English Heritage.

Who did Sandy hold in high esteem? Well aside from the Duke of Wellington, it was the unlikely pairing of Nelson Mandela and Madonna. "In both of them, I admire their courage. I admire their zest for life, that extraordinary determination," he once told the BBC.

Well Sandy - it was your zest for life that we admired, your courage, your determination to fight for what you believed was right for people.

You had a strong social conscience, a wonderful sense of humour, a passionate commitment to public service and you offer a template for all politicians - Tory, Labour and Lib-Dem - who come after you. We salute you."