Councillor Brian Stead

COUNCILLOR BRIAN STEAD

BRIAN STEAD who was a Wing Commander, MI5 agent and Borough Councillor has died aged 86. He was a Residents Association Councillor for Nork for 24 years being first elected in 1995. He stepped down only last year. He was an effective councillor and successfully led the Residents Association group at Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. Brian was well respected in the council chambers contributing much in chairing the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee for ten years holding the ruling administration to account. He was Mayor in 2011-12. and was an unwavering advocate of the needs of his residents. He spoke up on behalf of residents on planning matters with clarity and passion. Locally, he was a governor at Warren Mead Junior School and served on the Nork Community Association committee. He was a founding organiser of Music in Nork Park and also the driving force behind the fitness trail in Nork Park and the youth facilities and skateboard park in Tattenhams Recreation ground.

He had a highly successful year as Mayor of Reigate and Banstead and was always very grateful to the late Councillor Joan Spiers for proposing him for the role after the death of his dear wife Carol. During his year he was ably supported by his two daughters, Beverley and Katie. And he had a ball.

Brian always had a twinkle in his eye and could be quite naughty…

During his time as Mayor he visited Brunoy, the French twin town. When asked to reply to a fulsome welcoming speech on the town hall steps where a young choir had been entertaining them he burst forth with a rendition of Good King Wenceslas instead of struggling with his school boy French! Whilst many within the council only knew Brian either as a local Councillor, chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee or the strong voice speaking on planning issues, he had an amazingly full and colourful life. He was a King’s Scout and, in that capacity, attended the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Phillip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey in 1947. He also credited the Scout movement for the fundamental and deep-down ordering of his character. He was a naughty schoolboy and according to his memoirs he was expelled from his second school! Fortunately, he then knuckled down and became a Throughout his life Brian kept the Scout promise to: “Do my duty to God and to very clever schoolboy who ended up going to Imperial College, London and getting an excellent degree in Queen, To help other people engineering. Incidentally, by the time he left university and to keep the Scout law”. he had totted up 300 solo flying hours.

After serving a graduate apprenticeship at Hawker Siddeley in Kingston and a brief flirtation with being a teddy boy, a career in the RAF beckoned. Brian went on to become one of the youngest wing commanders in this country in peace time flying Phantom jet fighters. His sense of fun stayed with him and as a young officer he decided that riding his motor bike through the officer’s mess would be a huge laugh!

Brian, seated centre, was the youngest Wing Commander in peace time flying Phantom jets.

Carol, Brian’s wife, in the words of their son Chris, scuppered this career by saying she did not want her children travelling around the world and attending boarding schools. So he left the RAF. This was a hard decision for Brian as he was in essence a family man and his children have wonderful memories of him properly playing with not just them but with his grandchildren too!

The next chapter in Brian’s life was even more incredible. He became a spy with MI5 whilst his daughters had no idea what he did. His son has memories of night goggles and acting as cover on trips around Mayfair with Chris in school uniform and a borrowed dog! At the end of his career he was the highest ranked member of MI5 who hadn’t been to either Oxford or Cambridge University. Brian mentored Andrew Parker, the recently departed Director General of MI5 and he said that Brian was “a fine man mentor and professional”.

And then retirement and his life as a Councillor. He, as always worked hard to do everything well. his legacy within the Nork ward lives on with Music in Nork Park which he and Carol started with the funds raised used towards the skateboard park and the trim trail within the park. He initiated both these projects and the new outdoor gym. Work on this having been concluded by Cllr Gemma Adamson mentored by Brian.

As a Councillor, his achievements cannot be better stated than by the outgoing Mayor Cllr Keith Foreman.

“Brian did a first-class job as chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, holding the Council to account. He was an unwavering advocate of the needs of his Residents speaking with clarity and passion”

He will be long remembered for his work and the contribution he made and his homemade mince pies at Christmas for his committee!