Tuesday, April 12, 2005
How the words of a poet saved a political career
After nearly a quarter of a century of involvement in local government, Haverhill councillor Gerry Kiernan has decided to retire from it.
It is a move he might have made nearly 20 years ago if it had not been for words by the 19th century Romantic revolutionary English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.He was elected to St Edmundsbury Borough Council in 1983, at 22, one of the youngest borough councillors ever, but lost his seat four years later.During that time he had tried to progress an idea he had formed of obtaining a town council for Haverhill, without much success.Soon after his defeat, the Boundary Commission announced it was against the setting up of urban parish councils and his dream seemed to be over."It was a low point for me," said Cllr Kiernan. "I thought about giving up politics and spending more time studying poetry, which I had started to become interested in."But then I read Shelley's Ode To The West Wind. I was the same age as he was when he wrote it and it was about him facing the same thing. It was quite eerie."Shelley's words about a determination to keep faith with his political ideals struck a chord with the young Labour activist.He decided to fight on and within a year a Boundary Commission inquiry considered the case for Haverhill Town Council and agreed to it.The council was set up and Cllr Kiernan was its first mayor. He represented the town at the 350th anniversary of the foundation of Haverhill, Massachusetts, later that year.In 1991 he was re-elected to St Edmundsbury Borough Council and in 1995 when the council went Labour for the first time in its history, he was made leader.It was an extraordinary turnaround for a man who had almost given up less than a decade before. There followed four very exciting and pressurised years, working with a tiny majority."It was certainly an experience and I'm glad I did it," he said, "but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone."The 1999 election defeat was a disappointment but he had seen it coming and during the next term in opposition had virtually decided to call it a day and not to stand again.But the ruling Tories fought each other to a standstill and a Rainbow Coalition of the other parties was set up. Cllr Kiernan got dragged back in."I was inspired again for a little while by that and decided to carry on," he said.Meanwhile he had also been a Suffolk County councillor for some years and was still on Haverhill Town Council, all thanks to his employer IFF being very good in giving him time off and a lot of support from his family.Studies found the town council had become one of the most popular councils with the people it represented in the country."An unusually high percentage of people thought it was very good, and it helped change the town," he said.Nothing prepared Cllr Kiernan for the disastrous infighting and complaints which ensued after the 2003 election which briefly brought the independents to power.But now Cllr Kiernan thinks the town council has stabilised and Labour and Conservative councillors are working together to get over the problems."I want to do something else with my time, although I don't know what yet," he said.Now 47, he has taken up judo and continues to be a keen fan of Cambridge United. Living in Hamlet Road he also hopes to attend the nearby Haverhill Arts Centre rather more, a building he has devoted much effort to trying to improve. He is standing down from the county council and resigning from the town council, although he will stay on to the end of his term on the borough council in two years' time.He is most proud of his time as chairman of arts and libraries for the county council, overseeing the major widening of Internet access.
After nearly a quarter of a century of involvement in local government, Haverhill councillor Gerry Kiernan has decided to retire from it.
It is a move he might have made nearly 20 years ago if it had not been for words by the 19th century Romantic revolutionary English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.He was elected to St Edmundsbury Borough Council in 1983, at 22, one of the youngest borough councillors ever, but lost his seat four years later.During that time he had tried to progress an idea he had formed of obtaining a town council for Haverhill, without much success.Soon after his defeat, the Boundary Commission announced it was against the setting up of urban parish councils and his dream seemed to be over."It was a low point for me," said Cllr Kiernan. "I thought about giving up politics and spending more time studying poetry, which I had started to become interested in."But then I read Shelley's Ode To The West Wind. I was the same age as he was when he wrote it and it was about him facing the same thing. It was quite eerie."Shelley's words about a determination to keep faith with his political ideals struck a chord with the young Labour activist.He decided to fight on and within a year a Boundary Commission inquiry considered the case for Haverhill Town Council and agreed to it.The council was set up and Cllr Kiernan was its first mayor. He represented the town at the 350th anniversary of the foundation of Haverhill, Massachusetts, later that year.In 1991 he was re-elected to St Edmundsbury Borough Council and in 1995 when the council went Labour for the first time in its history, he was made leader.It was an extraordinary turnaround for a man who had almost given up less than a decade before. There followed four very exciting and pressurised years, working with a tiny majority."It was certainly an experience and I'm glad I did it," he said, "but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone."The 1999 election defeat was a disappointment but he had seen it coming and during the next term in opposition had virtually decided to call it a day and not to stand again.But the ruling Tories fought each other to a standstill and a Rainbow Coalition of the other parties was set up. Cllr Kiernan got dragged back in."I was inspired again for a little while by that and decided to carry on," he said.Meanwhile he had also been a Suffolk County councillor for some years and was still on Haverhill Town Council, all thanks to his employer IFF being very good in giving him time off and a lot of support from his family.Studies found the town council had become one of the most popular councils with the people it represented in the country."An unusually high percentage of people thought it was very good, and it helped change the town," he said.Nothing prepared Cllr Kiernan for the disastrous infighting and complaints which ensued after the 2003 election which briefly brought the independents to power.But now Cllr Kiernan thinks the town council has stabilised and Labour and Conservative councillors are working together to get over the problems."I want to do something else with my time, although I don't know what yet," he said.Now 47, he has taken up judo and continues to be a keen fan of Cambridge United. Living in Hamlet Road he also hopes to attend the nearby Haverhill Arts Centre rather more, a building he has devoted much effort to trying to improve. He is standing down from the county council and resigning from the town council, although he will stay on to the end of his term on the borough council in two years' time.He is most proud of his time as chairman of arts and libraries for the county council, overseeing the major widening of Internet access.
