Coun Ken Hardeman spent 41 years working tirelessly for Birmingham. Today, The Post hoped to recognise his achievements with a place in the Power 50; instead our list runs to only 49 and Paul Dale pays tribute to one of the city’s greatest sons, who died this week aged 72.
It is almost impossible to believe that I shall never again hear that cheery greeting on the phone: "Hello matey, long time no talk. What’s new?"
That was the way our conversations invariably began, for Ken Hardeman was, above all else, a political animal who was fascinated by the ins and outs of city affairs and enjoyed nothing more than a gossip about the trials and tribulations afflicting him and his colleagues.
Ken, aged 72, was a councillor of the old school. Communication came easily to him and he instinctively knew the value of developing a working relationship with trusted journalists. We both needed each other so we might as well stick together for mutual gain – that was Ken’s approach.
He had a knack for self-publicity, certainly, but was also hugely influential behind the scenes in repairing the damage and filling in the gaping holes left behind by the council's less than helpful publicity machine.
If journalists wanted information quickly on complex matters, they didn't go to the council press office where a reply might be hours or days away. Even on something outside of his regeneration portfolio, Ken would usually oblige with off-the-record information.
He reasoned – and this is a lesson for all would-be public relations gurus – that there was little or no point in attempting to keep embarrassing and sensitive political matters out of the newspapers.
These things would leak out in any case, quite possibly in an exaggerated form, so it was far better to get the facts out into the open, with appropriate mitigation.
There were complaints about the number of times Ken managed to engineer favourable publicity in The Birmingham Post. Hardeman is always in the newspapers, his colleagues would complain.
But it wasn’t rocket science. Ken was a pro-active publicist, he didn’t wait for the media to come to him. Shortly before he died, Ken summoned me to his office to announce £1 billion plans for the regeneration of Selly Oak.
Laid out on his desk were high-quality colour photographs of the planned development and helpful information sheets. Ken, as ever, was ready with pithy quotes.
Ken Hardeman was first elected to Birmingham City Council 41 years ago, as a Liberal.
But he switched sides a number of years ago to join the Conservatives and became a leading member of the Tory-Lib Dem coalition which took control of the council in June 2004.
During the early days of the new administration, Coun Hardeman held the leisure, sport and culture portfolio, where he was handed the tricky task of resolving difficulties over the new Birmingham Library.
But within weeks he had been promoted to the regeneration brief – a position he held until his death.
His value to the coalition was incalculable. He could talk to the Lib Dems, he could talk to the Tories, but, most important of all, he was one of three or four colleagues entrusted to be in the inner sanctum of council leader Mike Whitby.
Ken Hardeman would be blunt and honest with Whitby, while other yes-men and women would simply tell the council leader what they thought he wanted to hear.
Hardeman's portfolio took in many of the key issues facing Birmingham over the next few years, including the redevelopment of Eastside, production of a city centre masterplan and refinement of the tall buildings policy.
His workrate, for an elderly man, put many younger colleagues to shame. Weeks before his death, although far from well, he insisted on accompanying regeneration director Clive Dutton to an urban cities conference in Johannesburg. He told me he looked upon the trip as a great honour and another chance to bang the drum for Birmingham.
Ken Hardeman will be sorely missed, and impossible to replace.
