A former miner who became a parliamentary candidate, long-serving councillor and only the second mayor of Brighton and Hove has died at the age of 98.
Francis Tonks served as a “Bevin Boy” during the Second World War, named after the wartime Minister of Labour and National Service, Ernest Bevin, who conscripted young men to work in the coal mines.
He later became a teacher and lecturer and, when he retired, he worked as a volunteer for the Citizens’ Advice Bureau for seven years.
Mr Tonks, who went to St John’s School, Leatherhead, later studied at Leeds University. He stood for Labour in Brighton Pavilion at the general election in June 1970 and again in February 1974.
Both times he came second in what was then a safe Conservative seat held by the war veteran Julian Amery, whose father was a cabinet minister and whose father-in-law was former Tory Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
Mr Tonks was elected to Brighton Borough Council, representing Moulsecoomb ward, from 1971 to 1976 and again from 1991. He continued to serve the same ward when Brighton merged with Hove Borough Council in the late 1990s.
He retired from what had become Moulsecoomb and Bevendean ward in 2007 amid controversy when he was expelled from the party, having been wrongly accused of supporting an election rival.
The error arose after the Labour-run council proposed privatising all the council housing in Brighton and Hove and held a ballot – as required by law – of the tenants.
Mr Tonks successfully campaigned against the proposal along with fellow ward councillor Jack Hazelgrove. Another one of the campaigners, David Bangs, went on to stand for the Respect party at the local elections in May 2007.
Mr Tonks, who lived in Wykeham Terrace, Brighton, and Mr Hazelgrove were falsely accused of endorsing Mr Bangs at the local elections, having sent him a congratulatory letter after victory in the housing ballot.
After he was exonerated and readmitted to the party, Mr Tonks said: “When we wrote that letter, David was nothing to do with the council and it was nothing to do with the election.
“It was perhaps a bit unwise of him to use our quote but I do not think he meant any harm by it. In my mind what we said could in no way be interpreted as ‘Vote for David Bangs!’
“I am glad I have been readmitted because I did not do anything wrong.”
The episode proved costly for Labour, with Conservative candidate Maria Caulfield winning one of the safest Labour seats in Brighton and Hove and the Tories taking over the council. She went on to become a Tory MP and government minister.
Labour’s defeat in the 2007 local elections was widely blamed on the unpopular proposed council housing transfer, a row over new secondary school catchments and controversial plans for the King Alfred leisure centre, on Hove seafront.
But the expulsion of Mr Tonks and Mr Hazelgrove – long-serving, loyal and popular – compounded the party’s problems.
Less than 10 years earlier, Mr Tonks had become the mayor of Brighton and Hove, serving for a year from May 1998, with his late wife Jean as his mayoress.
On retiring from the council, at the age of 80, he became an honorary alderman in recognition of his long and distinguished service. The father of two remained active as a member of the Older People’s Council.
The current deputy leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, Jacob Taylor, said: “On behalf of all serving Labour councillors, I wanted to express our sadness at the news that Francis Tonks has passed away.
“Francis served as mayor of Brighton and Hove and was a councillor for Moulsecomb and Bevendean – the ward I am now privileged to represent. Before that, he represented Moulsecoomb on Brighton Borough Council.
“As local Labour councillors, we are acutely aware that we follow in the footsteps of our predecessors – and seek to build on the victories they achieved for the residents of Brighton and Hove.
“We send our condolences to his friends and family.”
His funeral is due to be held at St George’s Church, Kemp Town, at 2pm on Wednesday 23 October.
His family have requested no flowers. Donations can be made to the international and independent humanitarian charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
May I be the first to remark that Francis, beard and all, was often likened to Colonel Sanders – but add that he was no chicken when it came to politics.
I met him when he was one of the Labour rebels who, two decades ago, stood up to oppose the Bassam/Fanshawe attempt to foist a directly-elected mayor upon Hove and Brighton. A cross-party group, with much help from the Greens’ late Keith Taylor, saw this off.
Many was the day when Francis was up early to hand out at railway stations the newspaper which so outragedc Lord Bassam that he said should it be withdrawn. I chuckled as I heard one commuter ask, “what mischief are you up to now, Francis?”
The upshot was that Bassam lost and, what’s more, this meant a return to the committee system which gave all councillors a voice. That was as it should be – something recently been scrapped without a vote upon it.
Amidst all this there is another irony. For many years Francus lived in a tall, narrow house at the bottom of Dyke Road: part of Wykehan Terrace, a place which in the Sixries had been a squat occupied, banner and all, by… the future Lord Bassam.
There is surely a script in all this: Our Friends in the South.
When hearing of the death of someone, memory is immediately engaged. For some reason, a conversation with Francis Tonks came to mind on hearing of his passing. I don’t remember why it came up, but he launched into defining and enthusing about the true meaning of ‘anarchy’ & its history. Probably in his Wykeham Terrace kitchen at one of the meetings held there during the referendum campaign aimed at preventing the city being controlled by a power-grabbing directly elected Mayor. Among the usually expected political sort, he stood out as an exceptionally warm figure.
I was only thinking about Francis Tonks the other week. Francis imparted his knowledge in a gentle, unassuming way. I was assigned to a couple of projects with him when I volunteered with Brighton and Hove Local Involvement Network, then a steering group when it was in the process of becoming Healthwatch. I will certainly rememember you with fondness Francis Tonks RIP.
I knew Francis via the lecturers’s union NATFHE in the 1980’s and later as a colleague councillor in 1990’s. I did not know he was as fan of Prince Petr Kropotkin, the revolutionary anarchist, until Francis helped get a Blue Plaque put on 9 Chesham Street after an attempt to get one installed in 2003 was unsuccessful. His tenacity prevailed and it was placed in 2010’s (please check date, Ed.) R.I.P.
Friday 7th September 2018 installed.
Kropotkin’s theory of mutual aid was partly inspired by observations at the Brighton Aquarium (now the Sea Life Centre) where he watched crabs spend hours rescuing another that had turned on its back. His notable work, Mutual Aid, published in 1902, developed a theory that society could be organised by individuals working in co-operation rather than competition, as in social Darwinism.
A true stalwart of Old Labour before it was hijacked by Tony Blair and bastardised into something anti-citizen.
Francis stood for democracy, decency, the council committee system and no elected Mayor. He also treasured this city’s heritage and was President of Brighton and Hove Heritage Committee in his later years. He will be sorely missed, just at the very point in our history when more of his kind are desperately needed. His family were equally lovely and I know he never recovered from losing his wife Jean recently.
RIP Francis, and grateful thanks for all you did to keep the voice of older people in our City alive, “and kicking’ where we need to!
Our thoughts are with your family and friends.
From Sara and all the Older Peoples’ Council
As Branch Secretary for Unison from 1997- 2016, I often met with Frances, often in adversarial settings, when he was hearing a disciplinary case or we were striving to negotiate our way through a problem. Of all the elected members I dealt with Frances was a man of integrity, honesty and calm. He was always polite, considered and had time for those quick, more personal chats that can take place in passing in the corridor or street. In the best sense of the words, Frances was “old school”, but with that something extra. I will miss him.