Anthony Hill – RIP
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| Anthony stood next to Shirley Williams at the famous Crosby by-election |
My friend for over 40 years, Anthony Hill, has recently passed on. I first met Anthony in 1980 on joining the old Liberal Party in the former Crosby Constituency. Little did I know that soon the political eyes of the whole of the UK would be firmly on this safe Conservative seat!
Anthony was re-selected as the Liberal candidate soon after I joined as he’d already fought the Crosby seat in 1979 for the Liberals. Then the sitting Conservative MP died suddenly, the SDP had just been formed and Shirley Williams wanted to contest the by-election. Anthony stood aside so that Shirley could fight the seat and the two of them became firm friends. The rest, as we say is history as Shirley won the now famous by-election. I was just a fresh-faced young Liberal meeting many of the political stars of the day – Roy Jenkins, Jo Grimond, David Steel and may others.
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| Anthony with Peter Gibson in 1981 |
As for Anthony he continued as a Liberal/SDP campaigner winning Victoria ward in Crosby for the Alliance, a seat he held for many years for the Liberal Democrats, as a well-liked and respected local councillor. Everyone liked Anthony, he was just the person you’d want as your local representative. He even had a year as Mayor of Sefton Borough and enjoyed every minute of it.
When I became the Lib Dem leader of Sefton Council (2004-2011) Anthony was there to offer advice and to support me. It was more than a little odd for me to lead a political group and council with someone I’d always looked up to supporting me. Then again I also had Lord Ronnie Fearn, a former Liberal/SDP Alliance MP, looking to me for leadership. I don’t know how I could have coped without their sage advice when the political situation looked difficult.
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| Anthony (standing) with Lib Dem friends Nicola, Iain and Fred in 2009 |
Anthony was known and loved by so many in politics and the wider community, his passing does indeed feel like a very significant event and it leaves me feeling very sad yet so pleased to have been his friend and gained his advice on many occasions.
* The first photo is credit Peter Harvey
Thanks for posting this really nice and appropriate tribute to Anthony Hill. It is a good account. As I said on Twitter, Anthony Hill was my first friend and original mentor in the Liberal Democrats. An absolutely lovely fellow. Always so positive. Bought me my first half in a pub also (at 16) at his Thank you party - elected as councillor the day that I joined the Liberal Party in Crosby 1987. And first that's how I first met you and all my Maghull Liberal Democrat friends.
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