‘I used to be a graffiti artist known as Fuze – now I do something totally different’

Stapleford councillor Richard MacRae has lived an esteemed political career, as far as local political careers go. First elected to the town council in 2014, he became a Broxtowe Borough councillor in 2015, was the deputy mayor of Stapleford in 2019/20 and was the mayor of Broxtowe in 2021/22. But before all that, growing up in the 1980s, his career was in something generally considered rather more unsanctimonious. “Back then, me and lots of my friends did graffiti,” explains the 53-year-old. “We always tried to get somewhere legal to do it but we were always told no.” While his more recent endeavours are a bit more above board, Richard still retains his love for the underground art scene. So, coupled with his love for Stapleford, it was a match made in heaven when he saw metres of unblemished perimeter wall at the construction site of the new pavilion on Hickings Lane Recreation Ground. “I just thought that when I was younger I would’ve been out there straight away painting it,” says Richard. “So I thought, instead of someone doing it illegally and possibly getting into trouble and everything that comes with that, let’s see if we can get permission to...