FOR a brief period in the 1980s Derek Hatton was arguably the most famous left-wing politician in Britain, best remembered as a firebrand socialist when he was deputy leader of Liverpool City Council in 1985.
More than 20 years on and looking little different from his days in the political limelight, except for a few wisps of grey hair, Hatton, 60, has relocated to the outskirts of Ayia Napa. On the surface, at least, he looks to have mellowed beyond recognition from the maverick so many remember.
After what seemed like an eternity of driving around a dirt track looking for his plush house in the pouring rain, I finally found it well tucked-away, knowing in advance that I would ‘bump into’ a BBC camera crew that were filming a special programme – with Hatton as central component.
“Come in Nathan, take your shoes off,” he tells me, before hopping over to the other side of the room barefoot to finish filming a shot with the BBC team.
After what seemed like an eternity of watching countless shots and re-takes, Derek finally hollered over, “Ask some questions.” After dozily eavesdropping on the conversation about his choice of floor tiles, I wake up and half heartedly shout back, “Erm, yes OK.”
Hatton is a key player in a brand new development that will be built in Tersefanou, on the outskirts of Larnaca. If the project goes ahead, it will comprise an 18-hole golf course and over 500 private homes.
With property developments all over the island on hold as the financial crisis hits and the ongoing drought making golf courses a serious environmental issue, Hatton’s optimism for his project is impressive.
“It’s all going very well indeed. The environment committee of the government have approved the desalination plans, and we are hoping to see spades in the ground over the next couple of months.”
Hatton now spends around half his time on the island, commuting back and forward to the UK, where he still has family and business interests.
“Cyprus is becoming a very popular island; people are fed up with Spain. In Spain you have a situation where nobody knows who owns the land and who doesn’t own it. There is a lot of corruption and the Costa del Sol has become a concrete jungle. It has a legal system which is dubious at best. Here it is completely different.”
Last year he sold his web design business for almost £6 million to Trinity Mirror and since then he has built up a company called Morpheus Investments which is instrumental in the Tersefanou golf project.
Having first achieved major publicity after his election to Liverpool City Council in 1979 he quickly became a massive irritant to then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and became the well-known dissident voice of Liverpool before becoming the City’s deputy leader in 1983.
Hatton’s political demise was the conclusion of a bitter feud between him and Neil Kinnock when in 1986 he was kicked out of the Labour Party for belonging to the left-wing Militant faction.
However, such was his influence at the time that he and his cohorts were close to actually overthrowing Kinnock’s leadership. I was curious to know whether he and Kinnock had spoken since that period.
“Bloody Hell Nathan, that was years ago,” he barks, all the same I want an answer.
“Neil Kinnock? He is irrelevant; he was never going to win. Anyway life is too short to bear grudges; it was all a very long time ago. Kinnock was the overall loser. We all knew he was never going to win any elections – I have not even mentioned his name in years, that’s how irrelevant he is.”
After a short break for more filming, I was desperate to slip in the ‘T’ word, “Have you warmed to Mrs. Thatcher, now she is an old lady?”
Hatton returns to the interview with a sour glance and mutters, “The worst thing that happened was Thatcher’s mother didn’t get an abortion.”
Stunned by the comment, I ask: “Can I quote you on that?”
“You can quote me on that word for word, in fact I would like that. She more than any body destroyed the world we knew in England and she created a situation which actually produced the financial problems we have now. She is responsible for the current mess.”
As for his future, what would he prefer – politics or property?
“I can promise you I will never do politics again, but I would not change anything I’ve done either – I would not do a single thing differently. I do still follow politics with some interest, but the problem we have today in the UK is that there is no difference between the parties. It has all changed so much, beyond recognition in fact.”
Since leaving politics in the mid-1980s he has tried his hand at public relations, TV and radio presenting, pantomime and after-dinner speaking, but admits at this point in time, there is nowhere he would rather be than in Cyprus.
“I love it here, it is that simple,” he smiles.
An hour in his company provided a fascinating glimpse of the Derek Hatton I recalled from my youth. He is undoubtedly the first militant capitalist I’ve ever met.
Surely that alone would give him cause to thank Thatcher?
Derek Hatton will be featured on ‘Inside Out’ with Jacey Normand on BBC 1, January 14, at 7.30pm
