ONE of the stalwarts of political life in West Devon was honoured at a special event at the Lord Mayor of Plymouth?s parlour last month. Cllr Betty Batchelor, 86, is still an active member of Tavistock Town Council ? but it was her lifelong commitment to the Co-operative and Labour movement in Plymouth that earned her tributes and a Dartington vase engraved with the Plymouth coat of arms at the special reception. Cllr Batchelor has been involved in politics since she was a teenager, when she and other party workers helped to see a Labour MP elected in Plymouth for the first time. Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Claude Miller, paid tribute to Cllr Batchelor during the reception ? they were both members of the Labour League of Youth in their teenage years. Cllr Batchelor said: ?He originally asked me to his banquet but I was in hospital at the time. ?He said he?d sort something out, but I never expected anything like this reception, I thought it would just be going in for a coffee! ?I think it was really a thank-you for my long service to the Labour movement, and the fact I was a sort of standard-bearer for so many who have come through since.? Joining the reception was Plymouth MP Linda Gilroy, whom Cllr Batchelor has known since her school days. ?Linda still calls me her political mum,? said Cllr Batchelor. ?I didn?t have any children of my own, so I was able to give plenty of encouragement to other people.?
