Sir Frank Price

Sir Frank Leslie Price (1922 – 29/30 December 2017) was a Labour Party politician and former Lord Mayor of Birmingham. He was raised in the slums of Hockley, Birmingham, and briefly joined the Communist Party of Great Britain. Price was elected to Birmingham City Council in 1949, representing part of Sandwell for the Labour Party. He chaired the public works committee from 1953 to 1959, during which time he worked closely with Herbert Manzoni on development projects including the Inner Ring Road, Middle Ring Road and the first Bull Ring shopping centre. He became an alderman in 1958 and the following year switched to chairing the council's parks committee. In this role he introduced new entertainment events to the city's parks, including successful Tulip Festivals.

Price also worked on the creation of the new town of Telford and in promoting co-operation between local authorities and education authorities on the provision of sports facilities. He was elected Lord Mayor in 1964 and was knighted in 1966, the same year he became leader of the Labour group on the council. Alongside his political work Price also worked for land developers on projects in Britain and the United States. From 1968 to 1984 he served as chairman of British Waterways, promoting restoration of the Ashton Canal and Peak Forest Canal. Price retired to Spain in the 1980s and died there.

Early life Price was born in 1922. His mother, Lucy, raised him and his three brothers in a series of back-to-back houses in the slums of Hockley, Birmingham. Price chaired the public works committee from 1953 to 1959 during which time he worked closely with the council's chief planning officer Herbert Manzoni. Price was closely associated with the planning and construction of the city's Inner Ring Road, Middle Ring Road and the first Bull Ring shopping centre.

Alderman In 1958 Price was appointed an alderman for the Kings Norton ward, and continued in that role until 1974. Price was a supporter of devolution from central government to the regions. He was elected Lord Mayor of Birmingham in 1964. Price was made a knight bachelor in the 1966 Queen's Birthday Honours for "political and public services in Birmingham." This was conferred by Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on 1 November.

As Chairman of the West Midlands Sports Council Price called a conference of local authorities in January 1968 that led to a formal policy of local authorities and education authorities cooperating to provide sports facilities. These were to be made available for schools to use in the daytime and the community in the evenings, weekends and school holidays. The policy helped to increase participation in sport for those who left education at 16.

From 1971 to 1974 Price sat on the city council's NEC development committee, planning the construction of the National Exhibition Centre. In this role Price became the longest-serving chairman of any British nationalised industry. The Eastwood lock on the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation is named after him.

Personal life Price was appointed deputy lieutenant for Worcestershire on 26 June 1970. This appointment was renewed on 24 June 1977. He resigned the appointment on 23 February 1984 but retained the right to the post nominals and uniform.

Price was married to Maisie, whom he divorced in the 1970s, and had one son. He moved to Mojácar in south-eastern Spain, in the 1980s. In 2002 Price published an autobiography, entitled Being There. In later years he suffered from Alzheimer's disease. According to the Birmingham Mail he died in a hospice near Almeria on 30 December 2017, but the minutes of a Birmingham City Council meeting state he died at his home in Spain on 29 December 2017, at the age of 95 years. He had left instructions that his body was to go to the University Hospital in Granada, however as it was New Years they could not receive it. He was cremated and his ashes scattered in a lake near his home at Los Gallardos (Mojacar) by his son.