Most people who join a political party at some point or other seek to gain elected office. First to be elected as a councillor, sometimes as a Member of Parliament and occasionally as Police and Crime Commissioner, or elected Mayor or even Member of the European Parliament (in the olden days of yore!). These were not the aspirations for Elizabeth Stanton-Jones, who has recently passed away and whose funeral takes place today.

Instead, she sought to work for the local Liberal Democrats where she lived and delighted in seeing others getting elected (she did, of course, dutifully stand as a paperless candidate in Kings Cross ward in 2014 and 2018, but it was not a target ward in those years).

I joined the Camden Local Party in 2004 to serve as the parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Highgate. Next door was the Frank Dobson constituency stronghold of Holborn and St Pancras. The London Borough of Camden was something of a legend in political folklore: George Bernard Shaw served as a Labour councillor, Labour had flown the Socialist Red Flag from the Town Hall of St Pancras in 1958 and serving councillor Roger Robinson was the nephew of legendary MP Manny Shinwell. This did not bode well for the Liberal Democrats.

But the Camden Local Party was quite something with some formidable activists. Amongst them was Elizabeth. She knew the Borough well and was always keen and willing to help. And help she did. In her time in the Camden Local Party she undertook a range of roles serving for many years as Secretary (I recall that the minutes taken by Elizabeth could often be very direct and honest!) and also served as Chair of the Local Party.

The run of success started with the 2003 council by-election in Haverstock Ward. One of the features of London elections are blocks, locks and entry buzzers. These often act as deterrents to new or casual deliverers but not to Elizabeth Stanton-Jones. Every lock and buzzer and gate was taken as a personal challenge and she was always going to win and get that focus leaflet through the letter box of the respective voter.

And sure enough with the campaign team led by candidate Jill Fraser, and driven by Flick Rea, Keith Moffitt, Janet Grauberg and others it was soon Cllr Jill Fraser.  And so commenced a mini-golden age of by-election and all-out elections with huge victories for Camden Liberal Democrats from 2003-2010.

And in every single one of these the access to early morning buzzer bells and late night stairs and staircases of tower blocks was critical and so there was Elizabeth. She would take bundle after bundle of leaflets. She would hand-write numerous and countless envelopes – and she would be out earlier in the early mornings, day after day come rain or shine. And in campaign meetings when others voiced concern about the volume of what needed to be done Elizabeth was always the voice on the side of saying that we could be ambitious and do more than we perhaps planned.

She was not without her own foibles, she knew best, she was determined and even stubborn, but it was always with a smile. Even if the smile was designed to ensure she got her own way.

At first I didn’t quite appreciate her, but in no time at all, as I helped drive the winning campaigns I came to see the sheer volume of work she was doing – hundreds, thousands and I think even tens of thousands of leaflets were delivered thanks to her energy and determination.

When we lost she was sanguine – but when we won she was jubilant – genuinely punching the air with joy.

There was one other feature of Elizabeth: she was a determined advocate of young people, of candidates from more diverse traditions and of women. I once took her to one side to say thank- you and her reply was memorable. “When I sit in the public gallery at Camden Council and see Jill, Linda, Nancy, Matt, Ralph and Tom as our councillors I am so proud that I need no credit. The work that they do merits all that effort and campaigning.”

I’m sure that there are any activists like Elizabeth, up and down the country, but I really believe that it is important, amidst the numbers and the results, that we acknowledge how those results come about. It is down to members and supporters like Elizabeth Stanton-Jones doing the work in all weathers, win or lose.

Thank you Elizabeth, as we lay you to rest, after decades of campaigning we send you and your family our heartfelt thanks. Liberal Democrats in Camden owe you more than we could ever repay but know that we appreciate all you did.

In terms of legacy, there is one significant element outside of Camden, Elizabeth’s son is none other than Nick Stanton, the former Liberal Democrat Council Leader of Southwark Council. We send him our heartfelt thanks and condolences.

And for the record here are the phenomenal run of Camden election victories to which Elizabeth directly contributed:

2003 Haverstock – Cllr Jill Fraser elected
2006 Became the largest Party and assumed leadership of Camden Council under Cllr Keith Moffitt.
2006 Kentish Town – Cllr Ralph Scott elected (Beating the then Green Party Leader Sian Berry)
2007 Haverstock – Cllr Matt Sanders elected
2008 Fortune Green – Cllr Nancy Jirira elected
2008 Kentish Town – Cllr Nick Russell elected
2008 Hampstead Town – Cllr Linda Chung elected
2009 Belsize – Cllr Tom Simon elected

(the photograph above, of a young and vibrant Elizabeth, is courtesy of The Institute for Collaborative Working)

* Ed Fordham is a Former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Highgate 2005, Hampstead and Kilburn 2010 and currently Group Leader on Derbyshire County Council.