She's done one of the toughest jobs on Bradford Council, committing herself to long hours on council business while working and managing a family. But Ruth Redfern had two miscarriages, forcing her to make major decisions about her lifestyle. She now has a new baby to join older sister Zoe and has decided to give up being a councillor, but Ruth - who was born partially deaf - still wants to change the world. Jan Winter met her

RUTH REDFERN'S new baby is called Theo, a name which means Divine Gift. Any baby is precious, but for her and husband Paul, Theo's birth ended a traumatic time when she suffered two miscarriages and was told by a doctor she was working too hard.

As well as being Chief Whip in Bradford's Labour group of councillors, Ruth was teaching at the city's university, undertaking all the duties of a councillor and managing family life.

Also she was formerly chairman of the Community and Environment Committee, seeing through many changes in the city centre, such as the creation of Centenary Square.

"I gave up when I was pregnant with Theo because I had already had two miscarriages, one at three months and one at 12 weeks, and the doctor said it was almost certainly due to overwork. No one can really give a reason for a miscarriage but there are huge chances of a miscarriage if you work very long hours.

"It affected me very badly. As a woman you tend to think of a miscarriage as almost a missed couple of periods and don't put it in the context of somebody who has been trying for a baby for years, which we had, and who is then grieving for a lost baby. It was a real learning curve for me."

Although Ruth is to leave the Council next spring, after eight years representing the Shipley East ward, she hopes to use her new-found time to find a job which will still make a difference.

"If I don't do it now, I won't be able to do it after another four-year term. Twelve years out of a career is too much. I'd like to go into administration or management - something that changes the world, of course! I have to do something that changes something for somebody and makes the world a better place. That seems very romantic but I couldn't give my heart and soul to it unless it did."

Daughter Zoe, who is nine, adores her baby brother, says Ruth. "She does everything for him and tells him everything. It's a really lovely, healthy relationship. I was concerned about the age gap at first. You're moulded in the notion that two or three years in between is right, as if it's a bit inappropriate to have a bigger gap. But actually it turns out to be incredibly healthy for them. There's no rivalry, no sense of being pushed out because you have had all those quality years."

Ruth's older brother is profoundly deaf and although the family was used to deafness, Ruth's own partial deafness was not discovered until she was nine. Her parents began to realise when a cousin of a similar age came to stay and would respond to being called for a meal much more quickly and accurately than Ruth was able to, because she couldn't pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

"At school, I thought the other people were cleverer than I was. All those people sitting at the back of the class could do their maths, so how could they do it, because I couldn't."

She suffered the indignity of being given body hearing aids, which hung over her developing breasts, Ruth remembers. "That's the worst thing you can do to an 11-year-old. Needless to say, when I arrived at school they went in my pockets, never to be seen again until the evening. That went on for a long time."

At a certain age Ruth was allowed to have ordinary hearing aids - although the results of an IQ test determined how good an aid you were given.

She did well and gained good qualifications at school and later at college.

"We have a very positive attitude to deafness. I enjoy my deafness. It's part of me. It's inconvenient, but so is being short. In fact, being short is more of an inconvenience that being deaf!

"I'm not concerned if either of my children is deaf, it's part of our family. But obviously I want them to go through the appropriate tests."

Ruth's family history is steeped in politics, part of the Methodist mining tradition in Derbyshire. Both her grandfathers were miners, involved in the mining union, and Ruth has the gold badge given to one of her grandfathers for 50 years in the NUM.

She came to Bradford University to study for a diploma and then a Bachelor of Education degree, and she met husband Paul there. "I wasn't really involved in politics, I was into campaigning and getting involved in equal rights."

Later, her work at a training organisation for disabled people led to her being co-opted to the council's disability advisory group, and from there she became interested in standing to be a councillor. She lost an election in Thornton, where she lives, in 1987. "I was heartbroken, I couldn't understand why they didn't want me!" But two years later she was elected to the council.

She and husband Paul work as a partnership and he was supportive of her decision to stand. And now Zoe too is proud and supportive of her mum's achievements.

"The kick that you get on the council isn't always the big, powerful things. I walk through Centenary Square and wouldn't be human if I didn't have a little grin to myself but you know everyone else who's walking on it at the same time doesn't know about you. It's a private grin."

And she loves the feeling of achievement when she is successful in helping someone with case work, for example. She enjoys the fact that a small area near City Hall, which was destined to be a car park, is now a green area thanks to her efforts.

"There's rarely one reason for doing something like leaving the council, but it's mostly because I think if you're going to try to have a career, a family and be on the Council, you're going to short-change somebody." For some couples, one half being a councillor means the other not only has to be the main breadwinner, but also has to bear the burden of running the home and doing the child care.

This is not ideal for women councillors - and increasingly young male councillors with families are feeling the strain, Ruth believes.

"It's discrimination against younger people with younger families so it's easier for people who are retired. It's almost impossible for single parents because they have to work and then find someone to do child care. You're cutting out whole rafts of people from being representatives on the Council.

"I believe passionately that politicians should represent their communities and the society we live in. To do that we have to have more women, and more younger women. So we have to reconstruct government, not just locally and nationally but in Europe too to make it possible for more women to get involved."

Ruth herself feels she is extremely lucky. "Very much so. I have a wonderful family, some amazing friends (a lot of them politicians), I have my health, a lovely house and all the rest of it. I'm an optimist. My cup is always half full rather than half empty. I'm very lucky and always feel that way."

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