Richard Webber, husband to Catherine, father to Edward, Rebecca, Richard, and Sophie, was my friend and mentor, and he died peacefully at home last Sunday after a long fight with oesophageal cancer.

Richard was an inspiring teacher, much respected councillor, entrepreneur, dearly beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend to many.  He was a mainstay and stalwart of the Oxfordshire Lib Dem Party, stepping up to fight (and win) a District by-election in his home village of Drayton in 2005, following a long and successful career as a teacher.  He then fought a much harder series of Oxfordshire County Council elections from 2013 (in the depths of Lib Dem struggles), winning his first contest by 31 votes and holding on through 2017 and 2021.

He led the Oxfordshire Lib Dem Group through the wilderness years post-Coalition as the party rebuilt, until 2021, when they took control of Oxfordshire County Council, when he willingly stepped aside for Liz Leffman to lead the council.  He saw the party rebuild from single figures of District seats in Vale of White Horse, from third place in Oxfordshire County Council, and from no MPs in Oxfordshire to a super-majority in the Vale (wiping out the Tories completely in 2023), a majority on the County Council, and five of seven MPs in Oxfordshire.

Above – Richard and his wife Catherine, campaigning with Ed Davey in Oxfordshire

Those words seem very clinical and mathematical, reducing a good man to electoral results – but the battle for the spirit of his community was a driving force for him.  A battle he won.  He taught me that you do not simply win in a campaign; you win day by day, doing the work for your community, standing up for them and fighting for them – again and again and again.  Developing and getting Community agreement to the Drayton Neighbourhood Plan.  Getting the Marcham Centre built – a shared labour of love with his wife, who was the District Councillor for Marcham whilst he was County Councillor.  Championing the Arts (as a passionate thespian and musician).  Leading community engagement with the hugely successful Milton Park Science and Technology Park.  Fighting against the commercially-driven Thames Water super-reservoir.  Fighting – successfully – for numerous traffic calming measures across the County.  These were just a few of his many achievements.

I got to know him after I joined the local Lib Dems in 2015.  The District Council ward of Drayton, very narrowly lost in 2015 on a General Election turnout, would certainly have been reclaimed by him in 2019, but he instead chose me as his successor there and helped me win it in a landslide, thanks to benefiting from his local popularity.  He chose to fight for the Tory stronghold next door, Sutton Courtenay, which had never before fallen to the Lib Dems (who had finished a distant fourth in 2015).  As it was one of the wards in his County division, he felt he stood a chance.

He won in it in a huge landslide with the largest share of the vote anywhere in the Vale of White Horse.  He handed over both county division and district ward successfully when he had to resign them in 2024 due to his illness; we hold them still today.

Again, I have focused on electoral results, but there is a purpose to this: Richard always believed keenly in preparing for the next generation.  Not just in teaching them and encouraging them, but ensuring things were picked up and led afterwards.  He insisted that his successors were better than he himself.  As one of them, I disagree: I will never fully live up to him, but I will continue to try.

Anyone who knew him would be welcome to attend his funeral service, which will take place at 11am on Friday 17th July at All Saints’ Church, Marcham, OX13 6NP.   This will be followed by a wake at the Marcham Centre – the community hub he and his wife Catherine helped to get built as County and District Councillors combined.

A committal, for family only, will follow at 10am on Saturday 18th July at South Oxfordshire Crematorium, Wantage Road, Garford, OX13 5PA.

Memorial donations are gratefully received for The Oesophageal Cancer Charity – OCHRE, British Red Cross, and Royal National Lifeboats Institution – RNLI

There will be a box available at the service.

Alternatively, online donations with GiftAid may be made at www.tonksbrothers.com

* Andy Cooke is a District Councillor in Vale of White Horse, for Drayton Ward. He has been a member of the Lib Dems since 2015, and a councillor since 2019, after being convinced by Richard Webber to stand for election.