My father, Mike Gough, who has died aged 71, was a foundry apprentice turned Oxford graduate who could have been a stand-up comic – but instead became a standout politician.
One of eight children of Bernard and Iris Gough, he was born in Newport, and had an uncompromising upbringing in Cwmbran, South Wales. He was the only member of his primary school class to pass the 11-plus, but the harsh regime of his grammar school meant he skipped classes and left with only two O-levels.
In 1960, Mike started as an apprentice patternmaker at the GKN foundry in Cwmbran, where he became a shop steward aged only 18, and entered politics as a Labour member of Cwmbran urban district council.
Deciding to return to education, he enrolled at Coleg Harlech, North Wales, in 1972. A lecturer suggested he apply to Oxford and he was soon reading philosophy, politics and economics at Balliol. He graduated in 1976, was Gwent county council’s health and safety officer from 1978 until 1996, and returned to the political arena in 1983, winning a seat on Torfaen borough council and chairing its finance committee.
In 1999, Labour’s policy of parachuting in candidates to fulfil quotas led him to leave the party and contest the Welsh National Assembly elections as an independent Labour candidate. He polled the second highest number of votes in Wales for an independent. It was not enough to defeat the party machine, but Dad had made his point. He returned to Torfaen as an independent councillor in 2004 and continued until ill health meant him standing down after one more term.
He was a man of great comic talent, entertaining hundreds of colleagues at emergency safety drills in the Gwent County Hall car park, and regaling many more with his after-dinner speaking. He attempted semi-professional comedy in the 1960s, but nerves got the better of him.
Mike was a hard-working, selfless family man, devoted to his children and grandchildren. He would fight deserving causes with the application and intellect of an Oxford scholar and with the tenacity his upbringing had bred in him, and could be relied upon for his honesty and rock-solid support.
His marriage to Gillian ended in divorce. He is survived by my sister, Samantha, and me; and by four grandchildren Billy, Freddie, Leo and Louisa.
