Mike Bower obituary

My friend Mike Bower inspired and led the transformation of Sheffield at a time of political and economic crisis. As leader of Sheffield city council from 1992 to 1998, he drove the Heart of the City project: this brought together the Millennium Gallery, Winter Gardens, St Paul's Place and Peace Gardens in the centre, introduced Supertram and engaged with the regeneration of the East End, which had been ravaged by industrial decline.

Mike, who has died aged 77, has been described as a visionary by the former Sheffield MP Richard Caborn. To visionary" I would add tenacious" - his vision was for a long time resisted by his own Labour group, bruised by the costly experience of Sheffield's hosting of the World Student Games - and open-minded". After a decade of barely concealed hostility from many Labour councils, he built bridges with the unelected industrialists entrusted with the city's regeneration by Margaret Thatcher's government.