3: Leaders Before Their Time

Despite the restrictive structures of local government, leaders have from time to time emerged against the grain of local process and procedure. This did not always have happy results, but it did demonstrate what might be done – or at least attempted – by committed individuals. In this chapter, we look at three contrasting examples of local leadership in the cities of Birmingham, Newcastle upon Tyne and London. All three were controversial in their time with a still-disputed legacy.

Chamberlain’s illustrious and often turbulent political career was forged in Birmingham. A successful industrialist in the metal industry, and an assertive personality, Chamberlain was initially a Liberal Radical with a particular interest in education in his adopted city. He opposed the influence of denominational interests in elementary education and was hostile to the enduring influence of religion in schooling, advocating instead a greater State role in the provision of early education together with the introduction of compulsion to attend school, in contrast to the usual practice of sending children into the industrial workplace at an early age (Marsh, 1994, pp. 34–35). Politically, Chamberlain was initially sympathetic to republicanism and he remained hostile to privilege (James, 1957; Jay, 1981). He became a local councillor before becoming mayor of the city, a post he held for three years. Marsh (1994, p. 66) points out that Chamberlain became mayor as well as chairman of the school board for Birmingham before embarking on his quest to become a member of Parliament. He would ultimately become leader of the opposition. He would in the course of this trajectory also change his political affiliation to Liberal Unionist which was, in the final years of his life, rebranded to Conservative.