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Draft:Pat Karney

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Pat Karney
Karney in 2013
Member of Manchester City Council for Harpurhey
In office
3 May 1979 – 13 October 2026
Personal details
BornPatrick Kearney
1947 or 1948
Dublin, Ireland
Died (aged 78)
Manchester, England
PartyLabour

Patrick Karney[1] (born Patrick Kearney, 1947 or 1948 – 13 October 2026) was a British Labour Party politician, who was a councillor for Harpurhey in the City of Manchester from 1979 to 2026. He was the Lead Member for the City Centre and was responsible for setting up the Manchester Day festival.[2][3] He was a supporter of Manchester's Christmas markets and secretary of the council's Labour Group.[4][5]

Life and career

[edit]

Karney was born in Dublin, Ireland[6] and raised in Harpurhey and Collyhurst from the age of nine.[3] He changed the spelling of his surname from Kearney to Karney.[3] He was one of the original city centre residents when only about 500 people were living there in the late 1990s. He was on the board of the City Centre Management Company from its beginning. [7] Karney was a Labour councillor in the city from 1979.[3] He was an Associate Executive Member with responsibility for the city centre.[8] He was a Social Services manager for Salford City Council and was Chairman of the City Centre Committee when the IRA bomb devastated the centre.[9] He is said to have been important in making Manchester a leading city in terms of LGBTQ+ policy. He was prominent in the City Council's opposition to Section 28.[10] When section 28 was repealed 2003, Karney gave a speech in the early morning in Paradise Factory, a gay club on Princess St. In 2014 he personally joined patrols of the gay village at night where gay men were being robbed.[11] He also pushed for the city’s markets to be opened earlier and earlier into November.[12] He played a prominent part in Manchester's Irish Festival.[13] He was also enthusiastic about creating St George’s Day celebrations in the city.[14]

In 2014 it was said that under his leadership "as the Supremo of Central Manchester, the place has been declining for some time".[15] In 2015 he was described as an "unstoppable media frenzy."[16] He was involved in debate about the Piccadilly Gardens wall for some years. The wall was finally demolished in 2020, shortly after it had been decorated with the slogan "The North is not a Petri dish", and Karney arranged to preserve a section and invited the artist to decorate it again. He said "It was a big political moment for Manchester and the message symbolises that."[17]

In March 2020 he was accused of bullying John Leech, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition on the City Council, but was cleared.[18]

In 2023 he put on a faceless mask at a council meeting to highlight the new law requiring people to take photographic identity documents when they go to vote.[19]

Karney died of cancer on 13 October 2026, aged 78, with his death being announced by Manchester City Council. He was the longest serving councillor in the city.[20] He was described by the Manchester Evening News as a 'true Mancunian' and 'force of nature', and by the BBC as a political giant.[21][10] Tributes were made by the leader of Manchester City Council Garry Bridges, the mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Craig, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Lucy Powell and Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Burnham said he was "a tireless champion for the people he represented" who had seen the city "through some of its toughest times and played his part in the growth and transformation that followed" and that he had fittingly been called Mr Manchester on the front page of the Manchester Evening News.[10][21] Bev Craig said "he championed the gay village and LGBT equality, he paved the way for generations who came after him.[22]

At his funeral on 5th November the Prime Minister, Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell and several other MPs were present. [23] The Ferris wheel in Albert Square, Manchester displayed the message "Thank You Pat" beside the city's Christmas Markets.[24]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Manchester City Council Report for Information" (PDF). democracy.manchester.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
  2. ↑ "When Cllr Pat Karney Dined With Margaret Thatcher". Confidentials. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Taylor, Paul (17 January 2013). "Who does Pat Karney think he is? Profile of the Manchester 'spokesman' who has served the city for 33 years". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  4. ↑ "'I've spent a year fighting off bullying and harassment from the Labour Group'". Manchester Mill. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  5. ↑ "'Nowhere does Christmas quite like Manchester'". BBC. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  6. ↑ Lemon, Jane (13 March 2025). "Manchester goes green this weekend as St Patrick's Day Parade returns to city centre". www.manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council, Town Hall, Albert Square, Manchester, M60 2LA, UK.
  7. ↑ "Cllr Pat Karney". City Co. 14 October 2026. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  8. ↑ "COUNCILLOR PAT KARNEY". Manchester Evening News. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  9. ↑ "Pat Karney, high-profile City Councillor". Aidan O'Rourke. 10 July 1998. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 Waddington, Marc (14 October 2026). "Tributes to 'giant' of Manchester politics". BBC News. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
  11. ↑ Williams, Jennifer (25 January 2014). "Councillor Pat Karney to go out on gay village patrol after 15th canal death and safety fears over 'cruising' hotspot". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  12. ↑ "HMO attacks escalate in Salford". Manchester Mill. 19 October 2026. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  13. ↑ "Tributes to Dublin-born Pat Karney, the man who championed Manchester". Irish Post. 19 October 2026. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  14. ↑ "This City: Goodbye to the wonderful Pat Karney and other stories". Confidentials.com. 14 October 2026. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  15. ↑ "Petition to add greenery to 'hated' Piccadilly Gardens wall instead of shopping strip". Mancunian Matters. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  16. ↑ "Pat Karney's year in pictures - How the 'city centre spokesman' spent 2015". Manchester Evening News. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
  17. ↑ "The person behind 'the north is not a petri dish' message on Piccadilly Gardens wall has done it again". Manchester Evening News. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  18. ↑ "Manchester councillor Pat Karney cleared of 'bullying' Lib Dem leader – but has been sanctioned for using a laminator". Manchester Evening News. 10 March 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  19. ↑ "Local elections: Masked councillor issues photo ID warning". BBC. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  20. ↑ "Longest-serving Manchester councillor Pat Karney dies". Northwest Place. 14 October 2026. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
  21. 1 2 Fisher, Charlotte (13 October 2026). "Manchester legend Pat Karney dies aged 78 - latest tributes to 'true Mancunian' and 'force of nature'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
  22. ↑ "Tributes paid as 'one-off' Manchester councillor Pat Karney dies, aged 78". ITV. 14 October 2026. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  23. ↑ "Prime Minister pays tribute at funeral of long-serving Manchester councillor Pat Karney". ITV. 5 November 2026. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
  24. ↑ "PM pays tribute to 'political genius' Pat Karney at funeral". BBC. 5 November 2026. Retrieved 5 November 2026.

Category:1940s births Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:2026 deaths Category:21st-century British politicians Category:Deaths from cancer in England Category:Labour Party (UK) councillors Category:Councillors in Manchester Category:Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:Politicians from Dublin (city)

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