{{Short description|British politician (1941–2024)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Roger Blackmore | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | office = Lord Mayor of Leicester | term_start = May 2009 | term_end = May 2010 | predecessor = Manjula Sood | successor = Colin Hall | office1 = Leader of Leicester City Council | term_start1 = 22 May 2003 | term_end1 = 17 May 2007 | predecessor1 = Ross Willmott | successor1 = Ross Willmott | office2 = Councillor on Leicester City Council | term_start2 = May 1995 | term_end2 = May 2011 | birth_date = 30 December 1941 | birth_place = | death_date = 6 September 2024 (aged 82) | death_place = | spouse = Hilary Blackmore | children = 3 | party = Liberal Democrats | alma_mater = | website = }}
'''Roger Brian Blackmore''' (30 December 1941 – 6 September 2024) was a Liberal Democrat politician. He was leader of Leicester City Council from 2003 to 2004 and 2005 to 2007 and Lord Mayor of Leicester from 2009 to 2010.<ref>[http://www.leicester.gov.uk/about-leicester/lordmayorcivic/roll-of-mayors/2000-on/2009-roger-blackmore/ Leicester City Council biography]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=217&J=1|title=Councillor Roger Blackmore|publisher=Leicester City Council}}</ref>
==Education== He was educated at Abingdon School from September 1954 until December 1956<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abingdon.org.uk/uploads/school/files/abingdonian/1957_April_V011_N002.pdf#page=13|title=Valete et Salvete|publisher=The Abingdonian}}</ref> and then studied Social Sciences at the University of Leicester.
==Career== He stayed in Leicester after graduating in 1963 to work at the Imperial Typewriter Company. He became a lecturer at Charles Keene College in 1968.
He was elected to Leicestershire County Council for the Western Park division in 1993, and then to Leicester City Council for the same ward in 1995. In 1997 Leicester City Council became a unitary authority. In 2000 he became leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the city council. After the 2003 local election, the Liberal Democrats became the largest party on the council, and Blackmore became leader in May 2003, leading a Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition. In November 2004, Labour's Ross Willmott took over as leader in a minority Labour administration,<ref>{{cite news |title=Labour snatches council control |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/4044621.stm |access-date=17 August 2022 |publisher=BBC News |date=26 November 2004}}</ref> but Blackmore returned as leader in May 2005 until the 2007 Leicester City Council election. Blackmore was lord mayor of Leicester for 2009 to 2010. He stood down from the council in 2011.
Blackmore was a Parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Party on six occasions during the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>[http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Blackmore-calls-halt-53-year-career-politics/story-12060312-detail/story.html "Blackmore calls a halt to 53-year career in politics" ''Leicester Mercury'' 29 March 2011]</ref> He stood in Gainsborough (1970, February 1974, October 1974 and 1979), North Devon (1983) and Wansdyke (1987).
==Personal life== Roger Blackmore was married to Hilary and had three children Heather, Quentin and Julian. He died on 6 September 2024.<ref>[https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/tributes-former-mayor-city-council-9585906 Tributes to former mayor and city council leader in Leicester Mercury death notices]</ref><ref>[https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/blackmore/5210633 Funeral Notices]</ref>
==See also== * List of Old Abingdonians
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.leicester.gov.uk/about-leicester/lordmayorcivic/roll-of-mayors/2000-on/2009-roger-blackmore/ Biography at the Leicester City Council website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackmore, Roger}} Category:1941 births Category:2024 deaths Category:People educated at Abingdon School Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Category:Alumni of the University of Leicester Category:Members of Leicestershire County Council Category:Mayors of places in Leicestershire Category:Leaders of local authorities of England Category:Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates