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Tributes paid to campaigner Ken
Reporter: Lewis Jones
Date online: 06 February 2012
TRIBUTES have been paid to Saddleworth parish councillor Ken Hulme who has died, aged 62.
The spirited councillor, well-known locally for his campaigns and crusades, passed away in the early hours of Friday morning at the Royal Oldham Hospital.
He leaves behind wife Hannah and teenage son George.
Never one to take a back seat, Mr Hulme pledged his support to dozens of local campaigns during his time representing the Delph and Denshaw ward since 2003.
He had suffered a short illness. Wife Hannah said: “Despite anything he went through he always thought life should be fun, and politics should be fun.
“He would always try to make life better for people if he thought they were being wronged or treated unfairly. He believed strongly in that.
“I’ve never met anybody like him. He was absolutely thrilled to become a father and he just thought George was wonderful.”
Born in Oldham, Ken moved to Blackpool as a boy with his mother, before going on to attend Warwick University to study history and politics.
He then moved to London working in the capital and supporting many a radical cause.
He ran the Will Aid campaign during time with Oxfam, worked for the Greater London Council as Peace Year and Jobs Year co-ordinator and won an award for staging fundraisers at the Royal Albert Hall that raised substantial funds to support the miners during the 1984 strikes.
Moving back to the borough, he became a well-known face across Saddleworth, immersing himself in village life as a leader for the Delph Methodist Cubs, an active member of the Delph Community Association and recently forming the Delph Traffic Group.
Chair of the parish council Bill Cullen said: “His death came as a shock to many of us and he will definitely be greatly missed.
“He really was passionate. If he decided to support something he didn’t pull any punches.
“He was a thorn in the side of some in Oldham, but that’s how it should be.
“It didn’t matter whether or not you agreed with him, you respected him.
“He was due to become chair of the parish council this year, and it is such a shame he will not achieve that.”
Whether pointing out quirky village obscurities or fighting tirelessly a cause he believed in, he relished every minute.
He fiercely fought to stave off a wind farm being built on the Saddleworth Moors and passionately campaigned on traffic issues in the village.
Recently he represented concerns surrounding the Delph Independent Graveyard and battled to keep the volunteer-run library open.
Ken stood several times as a candidate in local elections, pipped to the post by councillor Derek Heffernan who beat him to the Saddleworth North seat by just 17 votes in his most recent bid last year.
Paying tribute, Derek described him as a ‘larger than life character’, remembering the openness and honesty they shared despite being ballot opponents.
With a passion for his garden, live music and the Saddleworth hills, Ken had just started a full-time post as a teaching assistant at a school in Manchester.
Council leader Jim McMahon added: “Ken was a real community champion and fought with energy for his constituents.
“Our thoughts are with his family at this time.”
Comments
As much as anything Ken's achievement was to carve out a niche for a genuine independent individual in a political arena which had been very much dominated by party definitions. Although first elected to the Parish Council on a Labour ticket, he realised that he needed to be free of the label to be able to challenge at times both Labour and LibDem administrations at borough level as well as the LibDem hegemony in the Parish. A rare beast, Delph will feel the loss.
A man of the people in every sense of the word, vocal and passionate about the issues/causes he so eagerly took on. If you had Ken Hulme fighting your corner, you were guaranteed a staunch and hard-working ally, tenacious to a fault.
He’s left a big hole that few could ever hope to fill.
im absolutely shocked to see this today! Ken was a real trouper who worked hard and dedicated his time to the local community.
he will be missed! if only other councillors where as good as him we'd have great town and villages!
Ken was a good friend to me. He had the ability to annoy some people some of the time, but never all of the people all of the time; a necessary attribute for a person as dedicated as he was.
He was a hard working campaigner and an excellent champion for residents in his part of the Borough.
R.I.P.
Not a Saddleworth resident but from the amount of coverage Ken got, he clearly worked hard with the interests of his constituents at heart.
Have Your Say
A 100% Delphite, completely committed to the cause, whatever it was. Met him on a few occasion in the library and came over as a genuine, hard-working grafter. Will be sadly and sorely missed in many circles. God bless.
By DaveWarby27Duchess @ 06/02/2012 16:36:24