After a lifetime of public service as both chief officer and then local politician, Ian Clague is bowing out from Douglas City Hall.

He officially retires as a Douglas City councillor on May 1 - 45 years to the day since he started as an assistant engineer in the borough’s electrical department from where he worked his way up to the role of borough surveyor.

After 19 years, he retired as a chief officer in 2015 only to stand for election in Victoria ward the following year, winning by a landslide and going on to serve as a councillor for the next nine years.

With a smile, Mr Clague says he’s been ‘gamekeeper turned poacher’.

‘I've been in public service in some shape or form all my working life. It’s been an honour,’ he says.

At the age of 70, he decided not to stand again in the April local authority elections.

Talking about his decision to stand as a councillor, he says: ‘It sounds twee but it’s absolutely true - I’ve got a genuine affection for the town and felt I wanted to give something back’

He says it had been ‘very strange’ at first to be sitting in the council chamber as a member rather than as an officer.

‘You can see things slightly differently,’ he says, adding that his previous role had given him an appreciation of the importance of getting staff on board with policy initiatives.

‘I can understand members’ frustrations if things not going quite as quickly as they had hoped. But it's not from putting obstacles in their way - there could be valid reasons.’

As a local politician he had to focus more on objectives rather than the day-to-day operations.

‘Staff should be allowed to get on with it,’ he remarks.

Mr Clague who is married to Sue and has a grown-up son Sammy, a teacher in Chester, has lived in Vctoria ward since 1963.

He was born in Liverpool, but his family were Manx and they moved back to the island in 1960 when he was four. He went onto attend St Mary’s School Douglas High School for Boys before studying electrical engineering at John Moores in Liverpool.

One of the biggest changes he’s seen during his time as a councillor is Douglas achieving city status.

He says as the island’s capital it has a major role to play. ‘It’s a shop window. We should approach things in a way that’s going to help the island move forward,’ he says.

One of the other major changes during his time as local politician has been the introduction of fortnightly bin collections.

‘Frankly I was sceptical at first,’ he admits. ‘But encouraging recycling has to be a good thing,’

He said those including new members who are calling for a return to weekly bin collections are missing the point. 'We should manage waste responsibly,' he says

The relationship between the Town/City Hall and central government has always been fractious.

Mr Clague is dismissive of debates in Tynwald about the introduction of 20mph speed limits.

‘There are other more urgent things,’ he says.

‘We should cut down on what national government does. Things can be done at a local level. If you want a 20mph zone in Douglas then that should be down to Douglas.’

He believes there should be long overdue reform of the structure of local government - he advocates a system of four local authorities plus Douglas - but criticises changes being made by ‘stealth’ through secondary legislation in the Local Government Amendment Bill.

‘It’s very dangerous legislation,’ he claims. ‘They are putting in place regulations which say we can impose upon you to pay for services but you’re not accountable to your ratepayers. The Minister said it’s a minor amendment - it’s not.’

Mr Clague believes the public services as a whole need reform, and the size of the civil service is too big given the number of private sector workers whose taxes ultimately pay their wages. 'We are in a mess,' he said.

During his time in public service, he's seen the abolition of the board system and its replacement with ministerial government.

He believes this has resulted in the quality-of-service provision going downhill.

‘We've seen services bring taken away,’ he says.

Mr Clague says he's decided to call it a day partly as result of a painful ongoing hip condition that he points out will make canvassing difficult and partly because at the age of 70 he felt it was simply the right time to step down.

He says he wishes new members well and hoped they achieved their objectives and will repay the trust that ratepayers have put in them.

Many of them secured their seat in the council chamber without a contested election.

Asked why he believes other didn’t stand, he replies: ‘People are too busy. They are just trying to get on with their lives. And if you want to stand in Douglas they are big wards and it costs money to print manifestos.’

The accomplished brass band player has been musical director for the Manx National Youth Band since 1981, has led Manx Concert Brass since 1995 and received the MBE in 2000 for his services to music in the Isle of Man.

He attended his last meeting of the full Douglas Council on April 9.

‘I’ve got a load of people to thank over the years and I couldn’t mention them all,’ he says.

Four other councillors are stepping down from May 1 - Andrew Bentley, John Skinner, Stephen Pitts and council leader Claire Wells