A former Greenwich Council leader who faced down far-right protesters at Woolwich Town Hall was praised by colleagues as she prepared to stand down after 20 years.
Denise Hyland, who held senior roles through most of her career and led the Labour council from 2014 to 2018, is among 19 councillors standing down at the election on May 7.
Her successor, Danny Thorpe, returned to the town hall on Wednesday to lead tributes to the Abbey Wood councillor, who was first elected in Shooters Hill in 2006.
Hyland’s best-remembered moment came in January 2018, when protesters abused councillors over the removal of flags that had been left in Woolwich, close to where the soldier Lee Rigby had been murdered.
The flags had become a familiar sight outside Elliston House on Wellington Street after the 25-year-old was killed by two Islamist extremists in May 2013, but neighbours had become increasingly uncomfortable with the shrine, which remained after the erection of an official memorial to Rigby at St George’s Garrison Church.
After the flags were taken away, a council caretaker received death threats while councillors were also threatened. Between ten and 15 demonstrators entered a council meeting and hurled abuse at councillors when Hyland explained the council’s actions.
Speaking from the public gallery, Thorpe told the council: “Denise was doorstepped by the Sun newspaper pretty much as soon as she was elected, and had to deal with an increasingly complex social media campaign that built up ahead of the full council [meeting], and staff and councillors received the most horrific abuse I can recall, with one particular officer having his address published and threats to burn his house to the ground.
“I’ll never forget being sat next to Denise as she delivered her speech that night, refusing to be silenced, determined to set the record straight, and resolute in calling out racism. I know every one of us who was there tonight will never forget it, and we’re incredibly proud of how she dealt with it.”
Conservative leader Matt Hartley, who was in his first spell leading the opposition at the time and also spoke out against the protesters, said the “far-right thugs were trying to exploit the murder of Lee Rigby to divide this borough”.
“They failed because she was on fire that evening, and it spoke volumes of her character,” he said, calling it “her finest performance” as leader.
On that night eight years ago, Hyland criticised the death threats as “the disgusting behaviour of a tiny and un-British minority”, adding: “Caretakers and council workers roll up their sleeves and give their all for our area every day – just as our armed forces do each day for this great country.
“Those who threaten them, while they are going about their work as Fusilier Rigby was, have more in common with the monsters responsible for his murder than they do with the decent and right-thinking British majority.”
Thorpe told the meeting that Hyland, who had previously been an English and drama teacher and had served as a Bafta judge, had been “determined to do things differently as leader” and “who never forgot that she was there to serve the people”.
“A particular meeting springs to mind when the then developer of the Tesco tower [in Woolwich] came in to present their proposals,” he said.
“He made the mistake of thinking that Denise was someone he could patronise. After much obfuscation and under her relentless questioning, he finally confessed that the proposals contained not one home for any social or affordable housing.
“After a few minutes of steely silence, her notebook was firmly but politely shut, and she explained that this was not a proposal that she would be supporting as it did nothing for the people of the borough.
“With more than a flea in his ear, this particular developer was sent packing, and also sent a clear message to many others about what was and wasn’t acceptable under her leadership.”
Council leader Anthony Okereke said Hyland was “a wonderful woman of wisdom” while her cabinet colleague, Jackie Smith, spoke of how she ran against her for the council leadership in 2014. “Denise never held any grudges against me,” she said. “She kept me in her cabinet, gave me a new portfolio because she said I needed a challenge. She was right, and she let me create things that are still standing to this day.”
Hyland, who remains the council’s only female leader, told her colleagues: “Public service is an honour, and it’s great to be able to help those residents who look to us for help. Sometimes they are in dire need and there’s no one around apart from us, and they need us, and so casework is just so incredibly important.
“At this point I am very embarrassed tonight. I am going to sit down and just say a huge thank you to you all. We may have had cross words now and again, but actually we’re better for that open debate.”
Other councillors standing down include the planning chair Gary Dillon, who Hartley said knew “more about how to fling up a building than most of the people who come before the planning board”.
“And in particular, he knows a hell of a lot more about that than the shallow PR people and planning agents that rock up to planning board meetings and try and get one past him and fail every single time,” he said.
Lauren Dingsdale, the scrutiny chair, who is also stepping down, said of her experiences: “I can’t walk to the park now without somebody stopping me, or without my five year old saying, ‘mummy, that bin’s overflowing. Are you going to take a picture?’
“I don’t know what he’s going to do when he realises I can no longer get the swing fixed in the park.”
Her fellow Eltham Town councillor, Miranda Williams, is standing down after 16 years and preparing to undertake a charity walk along the Jurassic coast in June.
On a night that saw angry arguments over plans to restrict scrutiny of council decisions, Wiliams said: “Over my 16 years, I have seen incredible public service. I have also seen, at times, self-interest overshadow the needs of residents, and I say gently but firmly, this really mustn’t continue.
“If this authority is to maintain the respect it deserves, then the principle of service above self must be held sacred. Being a councillor demands sacrifice, real sacrifice, evenings, weekends, family time, personal time, all given, willingly, because that is the price of public duty.
“If you are not prepared to put your residence first, truly first, then this may not be the place for you, but if you are, if you choose service, compassion, humility and purpose, then you have the chance to change lives. And that is an honour beyond measure.”
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