Obituary: John Fawcett, mayor’s secretary

John Fawcett, who has died at 87, was secretary to the mayors of Scarborough for 25 years, arranging visits by Prince Charles, Margaret Thatcher and many others.

A director of Scarborough Football Club from 1969 to 1994, he served for several spells as chairman and vice-chairman, and in 2007 was appointed president of the successor club, Scarborough Athletic. 

Born in West Ham, London, in 1932, he worked for Unilever in the capital until he moved to Yorkshire in 1967. He joined the council as deputy director of publicity and was appointed to the post of Mayor’s Secretary in 1974.

A former local election candidate for the Tories in London, he became chairman of the Weaponness branch of the Scarborough and Whitby Conservative Association in 2003 but resigned from the party in 2009, in protest against MPs’ expenses.

He was president of Scarborough Rotary Club in 1997 and chairman of Scarborough Probus Club in 2002. 

In 1997 he was presented with a chairman’s award by the Scarborough Civic Society in recognition of his years of service to the community.

He is survived by two daughters and two grandchildren.