The late Councillor Melvin Cohen an appreciation 

A lot of generous tributes have been paid to Councillor Melvin Cohen who served on Barnet Council for an unprecedented 40 years all that time representing the Golders Green Ward.

Several tributes have come from opponents of the sort Politicians do after death but would never do in life; yes former Councillor Rozenberg I am thinking of you .

The Melvin I knew was a complicated , private and even secretive man . Even his age was a secret. Twenty years ago the Conservative Political Assistant rang me to say he had just had a to complete a Criminal records check form for Melvin who was being reappointed a School Governor and did I realise he was over 60 ? That makes him over 80 at the time of his death but frankly who knows ? 

Twenty Five years ago it was common knowledge in the Conservative Group that Melvin had left his wife and was living with an employee from his legal practice a nice guy called Stephen in Broadfields Avenue in Edgware, a house Melvin continued to live in even when a few years ago Stephen left him and moved to Brighton with somebody else. I suspect though that Melvin remained married to his long suffering wife until the day he died . Melvin was Mayor twice only the second man in the Borough to have that distinction , the first , the late Councillor Vic Usher always claimed that second time around was just not as good , a view I suspect Melvin shared . 

His Mayoresses were neither his wife nor his boyfriend but his ever loyal fellow Councillors Maureen Braun and Wendy Prentice . I would occasionally accompany Melvin on Mayoral events most memorably on Christmas Day 2003 when after four visits the driver took the Mayor home and we were invited in for a Christmas Drink where Stephen passed the Sherry and mince pies and I thought to myself that Melvin could have taken Stephen out with him and no one would have raised an eyebrow.I remember being at Dean's wedding and seeing Stephen standing at the back of the packed Hall at Kinloss and I thought just how sad that was . 

Melvin enjoyed his black leather as the late Rudi Vis never ceased telling the story of bumping into Melvin late one night on the Northern Line kitted out in head to foot in black leather . Indeed in 1995 before I was on the Council a friend and I and the late Councillor Victor Lyon and his wife were guests with Melvin on Hyde Park for the 50th Anniversary of Victory in Europe and whilst Dame Vera Lynn was belting out "We'll meet again " my friend inquired if the black leather was kosher ?

In the days when the Conservative Party Conference used to visit Bournemouth and Melvin would stay at a nice gay owned and run hotel called the Creffield (long since demolished ) where he would happily enjoy the totally non kosher breakfast (he avoided the bacon) and presumably ignored the contents of a certain video channel .

When Mayor if he wanted to do an engagement on the Sabbath (the Lord Mayors Show springs to mind ) he would drive to his office and get the Mayoral Car to pick him up there so the neighbours did not see. My jaw dropped when I heard the Rabbi at the funeral saying Melvin had taken advice about opening a car door on the sabbath.........

Melvin was a solid Conservative , although Councillor Brian Salinger (in the days when he was still talking to me ) one said he had no idea whether Melvin was on the right or the left of the party as he never expressed an opinion . However the best speech I ever heard Melvin make was when he was being challenged for Group office by Cllr Salinger at a Group AGM and Melvin shocked it to Salinger straight between the eyes and was reelected by a big majority . Melvin was also totally loyal to Mike Freer (and I suspect a little bit in love with him) both when Mike was Leader of the Council and later Member of Parliament . 

Melvin was the go to expert on the Council constitution and indeed the Group rules and of course an expert on Planning . Over the years he reduced the public contribution to Planning Committees and sadly even Councillors contribution as he somehow thought the public and indeed local Councillors were a nuisance to the Planning process. 

Of course he helped hundreds of constituents over the years but in the last 15 years of his life was overshadowed by the phenomenon that is his son Dean who runs Golders Green Ward and frankly works his socks off dealing with not always easy residents . It was Dean who inherited the mantle of the late Cllr Rabbi Aba Dunner in Golders Green.

Ill health had overshadowed Melvin for the last 15 years of his life so although his death was a shock to his sons, it was a surprise to absolutely nobody on the Council or in the Conservative Party . In 2021 he was interviewed for the approved list of candidates by Zoom from his hospital bed at the Royal Free and anyone who had seen him in the last 12 months thought he was a walking ghost . 

Was Melvin happy ? Who knows ? I am sure his sons and his grandchildren gave him happiness . He was sadly of that generation of older men who had to keep their sexuality totally private and combined with belonging to a community not known for being gay friendly it was far worse . 

Rest in peace Melvin