Tributes paid to campaigner Ken

ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly: Ken got on his bike to demonstrate green power.

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.”