Overview

Aubrey Hames was a former leader of the old Newport Borough Council and was mayor of the borough in the Queen's Silver Jubilee year of 1977/78. First elected to Newport Borough Council in 1954, he remained a councillor (apart from an eight-year break) until his retirement from politics in 1987. During his time as a councillor, he established a reputation as a forthright, honest, and hardworking politician, not afraid of upsetting those in the fight for the best deal for his constituents and the people of Newport. This often included national government, particularly when the Conservative Party was in power. However, despite his often aggressive approach to a political fight, he gradually earned the glowing respect of his political allies and opponents who admired his unquestioned integrity and honesty. This also applied to the people of Newport whom he served. By the time of his retirement from politics, he had established unusual fame for a local politician, and probably helped by his famous moustache, few people did not know who he was. In this moving account of Aubrey Hames' life his son, Dominic Hames, remembers his father's life as a politician and explores the major events in Aubrey's political career. He takes an unflinching view of the events that threatened to discredit his good name, as well as the major political projects that formed the cornerstones of his career. This is a fascinating historical study of local governance in Wales, and the United Kingdom more broadly, in the decades immediately following the second world war. It provides an insight into the local history and politics of the time, the beginnings of the labour party, as well as an account of a life lived in service to his local community. No one reading this book can fail to be affected by the character of Aubrey who is brought to life so vividly by his son in this book.

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9781914390241

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Dominic Hames was born in Newport in 1966, the youngest child of Aubrey Hames and his wife Mary. Entering the world two weeks earlier than expected, he came close to ruining his father's best chance of becoming an MP, although research for this book has shown that ultimately it made no difference.After leaving Newport in 1984, he went to the University of Liverpool where he obtained Batchelor and Master degrees, and later a PhD from the University of Plymouth. A coastal engineer by trade, he is a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Brunel, East London and IHE Delft, and has recently left a career in industry to take up a senior lecturer post at the University of the West of England in Bristol. He has won several academic writing awards and has written numerous articles across a range of fields for different publications including several government reports.He now lives just outside Penarth with his wife Ruth, and two children Samuel and Alexandra.This is his first book.

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