Councillor Pat Carson resigned her Moorside ward seat on 31 January with immediate effect. Pat told me of her decision a few days ago, but I have kept the matter confidential (although I know she had already told a couple of senior officers) out of respect for her wishes. It is typical of Pat that after 23 years service to the people of West Lancashire that she should wish to slip away quietly to a new life and new challenges.
Pat’s health has not been the best for the past couple of years, and indeed I know one of the things that really ‘told’ was that she was unable to ‘stay the course’ in the stale air of the council chamber for the last couple of meetings. She is moving away from West Lancashire towards the sea air of Blackpool.
It’s difficult to know where to start in praise of Pat. I’ve only really known her for the last couple of years, and she’s never been one to blow her own trumpet about her skills and abilities. She’s just got quietly and efficiently on with the job, uncomplaining and determined even in the light of emergent health issues. She’s been doing that on the council ever since her election in 1987, and that is why – in an age where the reputation of anybody in local politics is often tarnished simply by association – Pat has always been held in the highest esteem by her fellow councillors, by council officers, and most importantly by her constituents. Quite simply, she’s let her action speak louder than her words.
What I do know about Pat is that she is a woman of integrity. Trained as a lawyer, she found herself unable to practice because her political principles brought her into conflict with the powers-that-be. Undeterred, she has spent half a lifetime using her innate sense of justice, combined with a formidable breadth of knowledge and an ability to get to grips with detail, in the interests of the people of West Lancashire.
She may be the slightly lesser known one of a formidable set of Liverpool socialist twins, but the people of Skelmersdale and West Lancashire owe her a great deal.
I will miss the calm, reassuring presence of Pat. So will many of us. I wish her and her husband well in their new life by the sea. I can’t imagine her not getting ‘stuck in’ there.
