A Tribute to Alan Cotter.

Often when out campaigning, the conversation turns to the corruption and untrustworthiness of politicians. The story runs that they are all in it for themselves and take the voters for granted. How often do we all hear this? There are public servants which show that this is just not true. Not long ago, we lost Barbara Long (former Andover Town Council Mayor) who was a strong voice for the town. More recently Alan Cotter (former Andover Town Councillor and Labour leader) passed away. Despite being a political opponent, he was another great servant of Andover and the Constituency of North West Hampshire. Alan was a calm and unassuming man with a ready smile who always saw the best in people. Although a quiet man, he always spoke with authority and often forged consensus where there was none.

I remember the great kindness and consideration that he showed me when I first joined the town council. He did not allow party politics to get in the way of working together in a pragmatic fashion. Although Labour, and he was Chair of The Constituency Party for NW Hampshire, Alan never appeared to take an overly ideological position unless it was to champion social justice, surely a common goal amongst reasonable, moderate and humane people. Like Barbara Long, Alan had a heightened sense of bull**** detection. Both were heavily involved in planning. Alan was often Chair of the town's planning committee and it was fascinating to see how he dealt with the firm beliefs of Barbara and my own insurgent views. The building of a pragmatic consensus thanks to Alan's efforts invariably benefited the residents of Andover.

What reward did Alan get for his efforts in helping people? Nothing, but then he never expected one. A deeply private man, he had no ego. For Alan helping his fellow man was what it was all about. RIP Alan. Our thoughts are with Pip and family.