Talk to us here at Rochford Life : 0786 342 7294 or E-mail us. For other numbers see individual pages.
Make a point of visiting us weekly! Tell a friend about us.
Local Government : People
Jerry Gibson
Jerry Gibson
Getting to know Jerry Gibson, Labour candidate for the approaching County Council elections
(March 22nd 2013)
A couple of months ago we interviewed Colin Seagers who is standing for the Conservatives for the up and coming County Council elections. To balance the picture and present ‘the other side of the fence’ we have invited Jerry Gibson, the Labour candidate, to share with us his past and his reasons for going for this seat. Jerry comes with a very alert political mind and, as you might expect, in our conversation we ranged over a wide spectrum of political activity, both local and central government. However, for the sake of considering the issues in respect of contesting this County Council seat, we have sought to keep the article sharp and crisp, focusing on Jerry’s credentials as a candidate and the local issues. We hope you find it helpful.
Rochford Life: Jerry, may we start with your background? You are retired?
Jerry: Yes, I retired May last year. I was a senior civil servant for twenty years. I was a director of ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), ending up as director of London East and Southern England, which meant I had about 200 staff and a £10M budget . Before that I was an ACAS field operator resolving disputes, either collectively or with people individually, so I spent most of my life in the civil service. I actually started my working life as a teacher in Liverpool but didn’t like that so went into the Civil Service. We’ve been living in Rochford for about twenty years. Before that we’ve lived in various parts of east London, although I came from Plymouth originally. I grew up and went to school in Newham, so I’m a great West Ham fan. I’ve been in the Labour party since I was eighteen
RL: What drew you to Labour? What is it about Labour that attracted you?
Jerry: Well I think growing up in the East End meant it was a very Labour orientated. My father was a shop steward in the shipyards when he worked there. I was always around trade unions and then went to Liverpool and got involved in student politics.
RL: But as an ACAS man I presume you had to be quite neutral to it all?
Jerry: As a civil servant you have to be, yes, and I’ve only done two active things– and I had to seek permission to do these. One of them was to be on the Parish Council here (and I’m on it now). I was on there for about ten years at one time including being chairman but then I became our director in the north west of England. That meant I had to commute from Rochford to Manchester on a weekly basis and so had to give up the Parish Council because I just wasn’t here to attend meetings. The second thing, was that I was also chair of governors of the Adult Community College for Rochford and Castle Point. I originally went on the managing body as a nominee from the Parish Council but then they started formal governing bodies and after my year as Vice-Chair I was elected Chair and stayed that until they abolished governing bodies. I then became, for a couple of years, the non-Executive Service Development Advisor to the Essex Adult Learning Service. So yes, everybody in the Civil Service is entitled to a political view but you don’t express it in public and at my level I couldn’t stand for anything other than Parish Council. You could obviously participate in Trade Unions and I participated throughout my Civil Service career. In fact in my day when you joined the Civil Service you were encouraged to join a trade union.
RL: Are you a member of the Labour Party by commitment or because your family led you into it?
Jerry: I very much believe in the general principles of the Labour Party and to fairness, and I’m very much committed to equality and diversity agendas, and having been brought up in poor areas you felt there was an unfairness in society. I was very fortunate in that I went to a local Grammar School and I went to university but most of my peers didn’t and were consigned to dead-end jobs with very little opportunity to improve themselves, and through no fault of their own.
RL: So equality and fairness are two catch words for you?
Jerry: Yes, and for ten years I was the ACAS Board Diversity Champion and worked very closely with the Equality Commissions, which we did as an organisation, and all forms of equality are important to me.
RL: Aren’t you very much rowing against the political tide in this locality?
Jerry: No, I don’t think so. In the particular seat I am standing for, which is Rochford South, which includes Rochford and Great Wakering, we had that for a number of years. It is only the last eight years that Roy Pearson had it for the Conservatives. There are a lot of working class people in this part of south Essex and there’s quite a lot of social housing. It’s the basic principles that count.
RL: So what is it that concerns you about the County Council that makes you want to stand?
Jerry: Well, the other thing about south Essex is that we don’t get a fair share of the cake from the County Council in Chelmsford. I want a fair deal for this part of Essex and should the County Council make cuts, we don’t want an unfair share of those cuts in south Essex, so I really want to stand up for south Essex. If a Conservative has the seat then he has to argue for south Essex against his Party bosses in Chelmsford, who are mainly interested in mid and north Essex, and then he is not going to get very far, whereas we have no compunction about speaking out for south Essex and making a fuss about lack of resources. It’s not that a local Conservative councillor couldn’t do that but I wouldn’t think they would be too popular and get a lot of air time from the rest of the party.
RL: If I said that Colin’s argument appears identical to yours, and so many Labour aspirations appear the same or very similar to the Conservatives, I would have to ask why are you different and why should you have the seat?
Jerry: Well, at the moment we have two seats on Essex County Council and we hope to get at least twenty if not more this time round, so we can become a major force on the County Council. My argument would be, well, all right, your people have had their turn and it’s your party that can’t get money out of them, let someone else have a go. As far as going for this seat on County, I think my past history shows I have the right skill set to do the job and hope people will come out and vote for me on May 2nd.
RL: Well, OK, may I suggest we draw a close there. We could go on and consider many wider Party issues, but as far as the County election goes, we have here the key points that present your challenge well. Jerry, thank you so much for your time and for sharing.
A couple of months ago we interviewed Colin Seagers who is standing for the Conservatives for the up and coming County Council elections. To balance the picture and present ‘the other side of the fence’ we have invited Jerry Gibson, the Labour candidate, to share with us his past and his reasons for going for this seat. Jerry comes with a very alert political mind and, as you might expect, in our conversation we ranged over a wide spectrum of political activity, both local and central government. However, for the sake of considering the issues in respect of contesting this County Council seat, we have sought to keep the article sharp and crisp, focusing on Jerry’s credentials as a candidate and the local issues. We hope you find it helpful.
Rochford Life: Jerry, may we start with your background? You are retired?
Jerry: Yes, I retired May last year. I was a senior civil servant for twenty years. I was a director of ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), ending up as director of London East and Southern England, which meant I had about 200 staff and a £10M budget . Before that I was an ACAS field operator resolving disputes, either collectively or with people individually, so I spent most of my life in the civil service. I actually started my working life as a teacher in Liverpool but didn’t like that so went into the Civil Service. We’ve been living in Rochford for about twenty years. Before that we’ve lived in various parts of east London, although I came from Plymouth originally. I grew up and went to school in Newham, so I’m a great West Ham fan. I’ve been in the Labour party since I was eighteen
RL: What drew you to Labour? What is it about Labour that attracted you?
Jerry: Well I think growing up in the East End meant it was a very Labour orientated. My father was a shop steward in the shipyards when he worked there. I was always around trade unions and then went to Liverpool and got involved in student politics.
RL: But as an ACAS man I presume you had to be quite neutral to it all?
Jerry: As a civil servant you have to be, yes, and I’ve only done two active things– and I had to seek permission to do these. One of them was to be on the Parish Council here (and I’m on it now). I was on there for about ten years at one time including being chairman but then I became our director in the north west of England. That meant I had to commute from Rochford to Manchester on a weekly basis and so had to give up the Parish Council because I just wasn’t here to attend meetings. The second thing, was that I was also chair of governors of the Adult Community College for Rochford and Castle Point. I originally went on the managing body as a nominee from the Parish Council but then they started formal governing bodies and after my year as Vice-
RL: Are you a member of the Labour Party by commitment or because your family led you into it?
Jerry: I very much believe in the general principles of the Labour Party and to fairness, and I’m very much committed to equality and diversity agendas, and having been brought up in poor areas you felt there was an unfairness in society. I was very fortunate in that I went to a local Grammar School and I went to university but most of my peers didn’t and were consigned to dead-
RL: So equality and fairness are two catch words for you?
Jerry: Yes, and for ten years I was the ACAS Board Diversity Champion and worked very closely with the Equality Commissions, which we did as an organisation, and all forms of equality are important to me.
RL: Aren’t you very much rowing against the political tide in this locality?
Jerry: No, I don’t think so. In the particular seat I am standing for, which is Rochford South, which includes Rochford and Great Wakering, we had that for a number of years. It is only the last eight years that Roy Pearson had it for the Conservatives. There are a lot of working class people in this part of south Essex and there’s quite a lot of social housing. It’s the basic principles that count.
RL: So what is it that concerns you about the County Council that makes you want to stand?
Jerry: Well, the other thing about south Essex is that we don’t get a fair share of the cake from the County Council in Chelmsford. I want a fair deal for this part of Essex and should the County Council make cuts, we don’t want an unfair share of those cuts in south Essex, so I really want to stand up for south Essex. If a Conservative has the seat then he has to argue for south Essex against his Party bosses in Chelmsford, who are mainly interested in mid and north Essex, and then he is not going to get very far, whereas we have no compunction about speaking out for south Essex and making a fuss about lack of resources. It’s not that a local Conservative councillor couldn’t do that but I wouldn’t think they would be too popular and get a lot of air time from the rest of the party.
RL: If I said that Colin’s argument appears identical to yours, and so many Labour aspirations appear the same or very similar to the Conservatives, I would have to ask why are you different and why should you have the seat?
Jerry: Well, at the moment we have two seats on Essex County Council and we hope to get at least twenty if not more this time round, so we can become a major force on the County Council. My argument would be, well, all right, your people have had their turn and it’s your party that can’t get money out of them, let someone else have a go. As far as going for this seat on County, I think my past history shows I have the right skill set to do the job and hope people will come out and vote for me on May 2nd.
RL: Well, OK, may I suggest we draw a close there. We could go on and consider many wider Party issues, but as far as the County election goes, we have here the key points that present your challenge well. Jerry, thank you so much for your time and for sharing.
