Brian Fitch: Larger than life, funny and a dedicated public servant

(This item first appeared in the Brighton Argus on 7th June 2023 and is based on a very similar piece on this blog posted a couple of weeks ago)

If there was one Brighton and Hove councillor who, over the last few decades, was larger than life, it was Brian Fitch who has recently passed away.  His funeral takes place tomorrow. I served as a councillor with him on the old Brighton Borough Council for seven years and kept in touch with him over subsequent years, not least when he was Mayor and BHT Sussex was one of his three charities that he supported that year.

Brian and Norah Fitch

To say that it was Brian’s year as Mayor would be to ignore the role played by his wife, Norah, who, if anything, was the driving force behind the charitable fundraising and many other aspects of that year’s Mayoralty.  Brian chose three charities to support: The Martlets in memory of his brother Reg who had passed away not long before, BHT Sussex in memory of his father Stan who was a lifelong housing campaigner, and The Argus Appeal because of the support it provides to many charities and communities.  Together, Brian and Norah raised over £47,000 for his charities. At the time I wrote that the year had been “great fun, not least because of the unique, entertaining, and extraordinary contribution of the then Mayoress, Norah Fitch.”

He also served as the Mayor of Brighton Borough in the 1980s before the coming together of Brighton and Hove.

Brian was born in Brighton into a local political dynasty. His father, Stan, was a councillor for many years while his uncle Reg also served on the Labour benches.  His maternal grandfather, William Polling, was a councillor in the 1930s.  His brother, Rod, unsuccessfully stood for Parliament for Labour in 1983 in Brighton Kemptown.

Brian was one of the most gifted orators that I came across on the council. He used to speak off-the-cuff in a humorous and compelling way.  He was someone who saw the funny side of so many situations. He could make councillors laugh and once you have people laughing you can get them to support you.

He could also talk absolute nonsense such as when he opposed the excavation of chalk from Sheepcote Valley, describing it as “Brighton’s white gold”. When funding cuts resulted in the central reservations on roads not being mowed, he said it was to create “inner city wildlife zones”.

His most successful take-down of government policy was when he adapted a Margaret Thatcher speech about the sale of council houses by saying that you could tell our council housing because they were the ones “with new front doors, new windows, new roofs, and new kitchens and bathrooms.”

I once served with him on a committee made up of, to put it mildly, an eclectic even eccentric group of people. In this setting Brian was a giggler and we just had to look at each other to completely lose control.

Brian was a lifelong peace campaigner and was instrumental in Brighton becoming a Peace Messenger City in the 1980s, and he represented the town at numerous international peace gatherings.

First elected to Brighton Borough Council in 1973 in Elm Grove, Brian represented several wards including being elected in Hangleton and Knoll in 2003.

He coined a handy catch-phrase which he deployed successfully in election campaigns over the years: “Everyone knows someone who has been helped by Brian Fitch”.

Another successful campaigning tool was his ability to run campaigns to save bus-routes that, he claimed, were under threat. After collecting signatures on a petition, and a few emotive press releases, the bus company would confirm that the bus route was not going to be cut.  In truth, the route had never been under threat but, what the hell, it helped Brian in his campaign.

For many years he chaired the Parks Committee. This was at a time when the parks and gardens of our beautiful city were the envy of many, neatly trimmed with blossoms abounding in the spring, such a contrast to today’s sorry state of affairs. Brian was the driving force behind the building of the Moulsecoomb Leisure Centre. Perhaps a fitting memorial to Brian would be to rename the Centre after him.

While in a different political party, he represented Hangleton and Knoll at the same time as the Conservative Dawn Barnett.  They found an accommodation and worked together in the interest of their residents. On hearing of his death, Dawn said: “It’s quite a shock. I think Brian had a big impact on politics in Brighton and Hove for many, many years.  As a fellow councillor we got on well together and just because we were in different parties didn’t mean we had to be enemies. We used to have a laugh and enjoy each other’s company.”

Brian found huge happiness with his wife Norah and my thoughts and prayers are with her and the family at this very sad time.