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Bob Hall in his role as Mayor of Camden meeting the Queen with his wife, Maureen, in 1998 |
Bob believed in making the world a better place
BOB Hall, who has died aged 66, worked for eight years as the ward councillor for Gospel Oak between 1994 and 2002, and spent more than two decades as a senior officer in the public service union, the National Union of Public Employees.
Bob was born at the Middlesex General Hospital in 1942 and grew up in Enfield. His father William was in the army while his mother Katherine was a shop girl.
As a boy he was a fanatical Spurs supporter and was also a useful footballer. He played for the amateur football club Enfield Town for many years.
Bob left school when he was 15 and landed an apprenticeship as an
engineer – he loved practical things and was a keen DIYer. His wife Maureen says Bob loved to dismantle the kitchen in their Gospel Oak home and make minor improvements before putting it all back together again.
He had a number of other jobs, not always relating to engineering; he worked for a time for film company Warner Brothers. He also had a job in the 1970s with the
Ministry of Defence in Whitehall – his role was to look after the interests of soldiers’ families living in army bases.
Bob met Maureen in 1963 and they married a year later.
Maureen was from Camden and, after living in a flat in Turnpike Lane for a matter of weeks, the newly-wed couple, decided to move to Gospel Oak, where they made their home for over 40 years.
He then went from the MoD to the Greater London Council and after a spell at County Hall went to Camden Council as a caretakers’ supervisor.
Bob’s politics were important to him. He was motivated by the simple belief that the world would be a better place if everyone did their best to help each other. He became a shop steward for the National Union
of Public Employees, and eventually went on to become the chairman of the Camden branch, while working for Camden Council’s housing department.
Other roles he held included a two-year stint as chair of corporate services, during which time he negotiated new terms and conditions for council staff, and he later represented Camden on the Greater London Employers Association, the Greater London Joint Council and the Greater London Whitley Council.
Bob was a lifelong member of the Labour Party and when he retired from his paid job, he stood as a councillor in the Gospel Oak ward. He served two terms and, in 1998, became the mayor of the borough.
Bob was instrumental in a number of campaigns during his time as a councillor, including the one to stop the scrapping of hot school meals.
His time as mayor led him to helping organise the London Labour
Mayors Association, which brings together civic leaders from across the capital.
He worked as the treasurer of the group, and then took it on himself to organise a number of trips abroad for members. Last year they travelled to Robben Island, South Africa, where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were incarcerated. He also organised a delegation to go to Arnhem in Holland to mark the 60th anniversary of Operation Market Garden, a disastrous parachute-led invasion by Allied forces.
His council colleagues recall Bob’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the borough that stood him in excellent stead when elected. Former Labour councillor Ernest James, who served with Bob, said: “He had inside knowledge into the working of the council, and as such he was able to keep the leadership of the council on its toes. I have many happy recollections of his interventions at Labour group meetings.”
He added that his experience as a NUPE convener made him a formidable public speaker – something his former colleagues in the council chamber remember.
Mr James added: “He didn’t change his style when he became a councillor. He was an excellent speaker.”
Among his many campaigns was the battle to save Chalk Farm library in the mid-1990s. Alongside his fellow Labour councillor Bill Budd – who passed away earlier this year – he voted against the Labour whip to close the library.
He then campaigned among his fellow councillors to ask users what they wanted – and so saved the library.
In January 1999 Bob collaborated with the Philippines ambassador Cesar Bautista to set up a garden for the library’s users. The pair mixed a bag of earth from the Philippines with a bag of Camden soil.
Tributes to Bob came from across the political spectrum: Tory leader Andrew Marshall recalled Bob’s warmth and ability and said: “We all found Bob a warm person. He loved to have banter with other councillors. He was loyal to his party but was genuinely interested in the best way forward for the people of the borough.”
And his ability to rise above party spats manifested itself in his support for sharing the mayoral duties with other parties – something which the current administration has endorsed.
Cllr Marshall added: “He liked to work in a consensual way.”
Bob will be remembered by friends for his easy-going manner and charm – and the people of Camden for his dedication in making the community he lived in a better place for everyone.
DAN CARRIER
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