Tributes have been paid to former Peterborough Mayor and long-serving city councillor Alan Dowson, who has died aged 87.
Cllr Dowson represented Labour in Fletton and Woodston from 2016 and served as Mayor of Peterborough between 2022 and 2023. He was widely remembered for his dedication to public service and his commitment to local residents.
Cllr Shabina Qayyum, Leader of Peterborough City Council, described Cllr Dowson as “truly the People’s Mayor and Councillor,” recalling his support during the pandemic and his dedication to helping women from ethnic minority backgrounds in politics.
“He made me his consort when he became Mayor in 2022 and gave me a platform to stand by his side and assist him in this role that he loved,” Cllr Qayyum said. “Alan was a friend to everyone. He was loyal to the party he loved and remained loyal to his dying day.”
Born in Middlesbrough, Cllr Dowson moved to Peterborough in 1968. He served in the RAF before becoming a mature student and lecturer, teaching at Peterborough Regional College and later the College of Adult Education. After leaving the college in 2000, he worked as an education consultant until retiring in 2016.
He was first elected to Peterborough City Council in 1971 and served several wards over the decades. His tenure included work on heritage projects, including saving 16 historic buildings during the Queensgate development in the early 1980s.
Cllr Dowson was also a nuclear test veteran, having witnessed thermonuclear detonations on Christmas Island in 1958. He spent his later years campaigning for justice for nuclear test veterans and their families, helping to fund memorials in Central Park to commemorate those affected by Britain’s nuclear testing programme in the 1950s and 60s. These memorials are believed to be the first of their kind in the country.
Cllr Qayyum praised Cllr Dowson for his tireless work, describing him as “a true Socialist in every sense of the word” who stood on picket lines alongside workers and advocated for the voiceless in his community.
“Alan leaves an endowment of public service to this city that is unmatched,” she said. “The Labour Group and I, alongside councillors across the political spectrum, will truly miss him. I am comforted by the thought that he will now join his beloved wife Annie, as he missed her so very much.”
Cllr Dowson’s long and varied career in public service left a lasting legacy in Peterborough, with his contributions remembered fondly by colleagues, residents, and the wider community.
