Rob Parker

Robert Bernard Parker (1947–2023) was a British local politician. He was leader of Lincolnshire County Council between 1993 and 1997, and was leader of the Labour group on the Council twice (1991–2013 and 2017-2023).

Early life and employment Parker was born in Lincoln He later became a lecturer in politics at the University of Lincoln and the Open University.

Political career Parker stood for election as the Labour candidate for Carholme ward in the 1989 Lincolnshire County Council election. The ward had been held by Conservatives at each election since the county council was established in 1973; the incumbent candidate, Sidney Campbell, had held the seat since 1981. But Parker won the seat, with 1,392 votes and a 531 vote majority over Campbell. Labour contested 50 seats across the county, Parker told the Local Government Chronicle that his party focused the most intensive campaigning on six seats. According to the Lincolnshire Echo, the Liberal Democrats were hoping to become "power brokers" and stated that they were open to discuss supporting either the Conservatives or Labour. But the Conservative leader Bill Wyrill ruled out sharing power with them, arguing that Labour and the Liberal Democrats would likely over-spend in power. Parker was quoted saying, "We are fighting to win. But if no party gets the 39 seats there will have to be discussions. We would have to talk to other parties. A hung council would not be indecisive. It would get things right." and another newspaper called it "the most radical power shift in the authority's history". In the aftermath, Parker (who had won his seat with an increased majority of 819 votes ) entered into negotiations with the leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Maurice French, to form a joint administration. They formed a pact and Parker was appointed leader of the council, with French appointed the deputy leader. Among their first moves was to create an environment sub-committee. Parker listed this among his proudest achievements Parker introduced a system of allowing the public to sit on some of the council's committees, which saw 267 applications to do so. At the next election in 1997, Parker also highlighted greater public spending in social services and education, especially nursery provision. Parker was re-elected to the Council in 2017; and Parker was re-elected group leader in his place.

In opposition, Parker criticised the council's Conservative leader Jim Speechley, telling The Guardian that Speechley had launched a "scorched earth" campaign against council employees who had been hired by the Labour-Liberal Democrat administration, including the firing of the council's chief executive Jill Barrow. Parker wrote to the Audit Commission in 1999 to complain about what he called the "systematic abuse of power and process for a number of years". The auditors found that severance payments which were made to Barrow and another employee were unlawful; Speechley's reluctance to resign led to calls from Parker for the national Conservative Party to intervene or risk the group becoming "essentially the party of sleaze". In the aftermath, Speechley's ally Ian Croft became the new Leader, but he too came under criticism for his treatment of the chief executive David Bowles, who had been a whistleblower in the Speechley affair. In April 2004, Parker urged Croft to retract a letter stating Croft's lack of confidence in Bowles. The Labour group were barred from a mediation meeting between Bowles and Croft held the next month, after the group publicly stated that they believe it was part of an attempt to force Bowles' departure. After Bowles resigned, Parker called on the council to leave a nine-month "period of reflection" before appointing a successor. Another Audit Commission investigation into the council's management led Croft and his cabinet to resign in March 2005; Parker called for a "rainbow coalition" of all the main parties to form an administration in the six weeks before the 2005 local elections, but in the event Croft's successor Martin Hill opted for a Conservative-only administration.

After returning to the Labour group's leadership in 2017, Parker campaigned for greater action on environmental issues and has called on the Conservative-led council to use its some of its reserves to fund essential public services.

Awards In 2011, Parker was named "Scrutineer of the Year" by the Local Government Information Unit in their annual awards ceremony at Westminster City Hall.

Death and legacy Parker died on 11 December 2023.

Tributes East Midlands Council paid tribute to his career in public service over a span of 30 years BBC Radio Lincolnshire also produced a radio programme entitled: "The man who brought a University to Lincoln".