From the outset of my role in Camden Liberal Democrats Flick Rea has always been there. She (and Roger Billens) led the arrival of the Liberal Democrats as a political force in this crucial flagship London Council.

Always having her own way, or recipe, or theory, or system, it was no Focus newsletter for Flick. Oh no, for Fortune Green and for the team that worked with Flick it was Spotlight. The Spotlight header was even still the original hand drawn cartoon if helpful gophers and the word Spotlight designed by Flick’s late husband Charles.

To know and to spend time with Flick was to imbibe some kind of political magic – a tonic that led many many of us to do far more than we intended, to a standard beyond we thought possible, but only just on time. Good food, washed down with wine and other alcoholic beverages and in her own instance, curated with a cigarette or three.

Indeed, Flick’s kitchen table, a tiny thing always topped with wine and glasses ready, was a source and venue for much great and trivial political machinations. It was there that we counted the by-election selection that saw Nancy Jirira elected to join Flick as a councillor for Fortune Green. It was there that Flick let it be known that she had decided that Russell Eagling should indeed be one of the councillors for Fortune Green (this was coronation of candidates, Flick style). And it was there that she took me to one side to say that she thought that we should make overtures to Tory Andrew Marshall and seek to recruit him. (He subsequently joined the Liberal Democrats of his own volition in the Brexit debacle).

In 2001 at Federal Party Conference, I was knobbled by Flick and Keith Moffitt and was truly given a thorough hand bagging. The Lib Dem candidate for Hampstead and Highgate was likely to step down and Flick and Keith had decided I should stand. A discussion could take place, but in short they had decided that this should happen. At one point during the selection there was a mutter that I might not the first choice of the significant membership of Hampstead Town. Leave it to me, said Flick and off she went for lunch with Cllr Margaret Little. Flick returned pleased and bearing news.

Whilst being an effective local campaigner worked in West Hampstead, in Hampstead Town I needed to be styled more formally and so I agreed to stress my intellectual, literary and academic interests. I re-wrote my stump speech qnd over breakfast in Hampstead High Street with the branch committee and Flick in attendance, it was announced that any doubts could be laid aside, and that Flick’s judgement that I was a candidate of substance was valid and it wasn’t just about leaflets and more leaflets. In due course I was selected to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for Hampstead and Highgate and Flick was always one of my staunchest cheerleaders.

Flick herself was quite the erudite speaker: she had been introduced as a young woman as a debutante at Court. She was of a significant old political family stock and carried the surname Peel as her middle name with considerable pride.

The key thing with Flick was to understand her views, her plan and her moods. Sometimes, regardless of the brilliance of your own idea, that issue would not fly because, in short, it was not Flick’s idea. But her views could also be bolstered by her formal acting training. As a new councillor in Camden she put this skill set to good and significant use with flair and panache. Dry agenda papers with formalised officer recommendations could soon be brought to life by Flick with poise, with vocal projection and some considerable passion on behalf of her residents and those for whom she felt she spoke across the Borough.

And then there was the issue of Leader. It was clear that as the local elections and General Election campaigns of 2005 and 2010 loomed, that Flick was not the Leader of the Lib Dems that we needed going forwards and after some discussion she handed over to Keith Moffitt who was to serve as Leader of the Council as well as Leader of the Opposition (earning him two carved gilt citations in Camden Town Hall). The decision to hand over was the right one, but this did not lead to quieter or backbench Flick. In the enlarged Council Group that led the Borough from 2006 Flick emerged as a key link between the administration and the ambitions and energy of the very, very new and largely young councillors: notably Cllr Fred Carver, Cllr Philip Thompson, Cllr Arthur Graves and Cllr Paul Braithwaite. Indeed the mutual appreciation between Flick and Paul Braithwaite reached levels of near sycophancy.

And then along came the signature campaign for Flick: Kentish Town Baths. Under financial pressure Camden Council included a closure option in their futures paper and the campaign was sealed: Labour would close the Baths, the Liberal Democrats would save the Baths. And so it proved to be. The campaign was a good one. First we won the campaign, then the election and subsequently we actually saved the Baths themselves literally. Second, it meant Flick could prioritise success over financial concerns. But more than this, it gave Flick the sense of success and achievement that she had longed for after nearly 20 years on the Council. So Kentish Town Swimming Baths exist, refurbished and remodelled to this day and it was entirely down to Flick Rea. Let that be recorded as the truth, for it mattered personally to Flick.

Now the partnership with Keith Moffitt raised other issues: principally their ability to discuss, argue and fall out with each other in the most vitriolic way possible. They would vow to never speak to each other again, and then at the next turn, as adults, they decided to move on and reset themselves. For those of us watching this it always felt awkward, but we also saw clearly the adult and important ability to forgive, apologise and move forwards, unencumbered by the squabbles of previous weeks. This also demonstrated and reinforced the role each Keith and Flick played to each other as best friends, and being part of their own respective inner sanctum as family. In sending our love and affection to Flick’s son and daughter and their respective families, we also acknowledge the scale of loss this will create for Keith and his husband Valdir.

There were special days, there were events and then there was Flick’s Champagne Breakfast each year. This was the calendar event of West Hampstead branch and tethering it to Flick’s name meant that the tried and tested team or Jeremy and Maggie Allen, and Jill Fraser to name but three, could always be called upon. When Sue Garden and Lord Tim Garden assisted the Barney Local Parties as PPC, Sue often commented what a mistake she had made in assuming all local parties were like Camden. And it was down in large part to Flick herself. She had taken the solid membership base of West Hampstead and Hampstead Town and forged a local Party that like itself and each other, that could raise significant cash through catering (such as the Jester Festival bake sales) and that created such rapport that the activists could enjoy the campaigns, and the good will carried us all on to greater success. Many Local Parties would do well to reflect and dwell on how Flick and Camden built such a reputation and how sustainable it made handling election losses when we incurred them.

I was reflecting last week about the amazing photo of many of us gathered around Flick in Camden on the night she was awarded Alderwomen of Camden. The photograph is a great moment in time, a who’s who of Camden Liberal Democrats, but it is also fundamentally a photo of Flick Rea surrounded by so many of her friends. In that regard, her legacy for us all is that and those friendships.

When we lose Party Stalwarts over the years, we know the ravages of time cannot be stopped. But the truth is that Flick Rea, has for over five decades been at the heart of the Liberal Democrats, in London, in the Cowley Street HQ, and in Camden. As her health declined it spoke volumes that as well as activating the field telegraph for London Region, it was also necessary to directly notify Party Leader, Rt Hon Edward Davey MP and Rt Hon Alastair Carmichael MP. Flick was known and valued at all levels of the Party structures and the funeral that will now follow will be our collective chance to say thank you and to talk of our love for her.

So the curtain has come down, she has taken her encore and several last bows. We have cheered her on, raised a glass, sung songs and given her a hug and kiss on many many occasions. Now we have to do that formally and painfully one very last time, but this time will be very strange indeed – Flick will be in our hearts and in our minds, but this last final time she has left the room. I know how much it has been a life well lived and well loved, but that does not make it any easier to carry the hole in our lives at her passing.

Flick Rea: she was my inspiration, cheerleader, mentor. Most of all she was my friend and those of us who can say that have a very large gap in our lives today.

* 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.