Ken Cooper: served the city for 37 years

Labour has lost overall control of City of York Council, following the resignation of a long-serving member.

Ill health has forced Councillor Ken Cooper, 80, to end 37 years of serving the city.

A by-election due to take place on May 11 was described today as the most important in York for more than half a century.

Liberal Democrat leader Steve Galloway believes Coun Cooper's Bootham ward, one of the Labour party's strongest in York, could be taken at the by-election on May 11.

He said: "It is absolutely in our grasp. We doubled our vote in that ward in the last election. It is a traditional Old Labour seat, but people now know what Labour's hidden agenda is, which was shown in recent cuts in services, and we are finding people extremely concerned."

Coun Cooper's departure means the Labour group loses its tenuous overall majority of one.

The by-election will be a tough test for the party, which recently introduced a steep council tax rise coupleed by unpopular cuts in services, including the loss of cooks in old people's homes and the closure of the York Story, and also increases in care charges.

Coun Cooper's announcement brings to an end a career in local politics that included a term as Lord Mayor of York and two periods as the city's Sheriff.

He said: "I have an on-going health problem which is unlikely to improve.

"I wish my colleagues every success in making York a Beacon Council and in all of its endeavours. I would have liked to have been fit enough to contribute."

Labour leader Rod Hills said: "Ken Cooper has been a rock. He has, without fear or favour, consistently stood up for the people of Bootham and of the city."

see also 'City councillors hail old Labour stalwart'

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