Tag Archives: flick rea

At most funerals you go along with your slither of the story and learn so much more about the person, that you never previously knew. At most funerals the family have been busy organising and deciding readings and hymns. At most funerals…

Let’s be honest, the funeral of Flick Rea was never going to be like other funerals…

First, it was the hottest day of the year, decade… ever and heck did we sweat under the relentless sun.

Second, the funeral was planned in detail by Flick herself, the readings, who should read them, the hymns, even the photos for the order of service… each personally chosen by Flick.

And third, the number of people… I counted 162 give or take 10 and Golders Green Crematorium was literally bursting.

Oh and the vicar leading the service, Jonathan Kester of Emmanuel Parish, West Hampstead, was a personal friend and requested by Flick.

Copies of the local newspaper of record, the Camden New Journal were handed out at the end of the service as Flick’s passing was on the Front Page, page 4, 5 and 6, she led the editorial on page 16 and already a letter of tribute on page 18. And the very personal and touching letter from Party Leader Rt Hon Ed Davey MP to the family was read out in full by her son Robert, only to be followed by a letter of condolence from Prime Minister Keir Starmer KCB KC MP.

The gasps of admiration in the chapel were audible at these tributes – all much deserved for the “Queen of West Hampstead”.

Now, one of the best things about the many achievements of Flick was that we have all known her for so long, loved her, her stories, her style, her camaraderie that most of those present at the funeral knew the details of most of those achievements. We weren’t there to learn, we were there to say thank you, to share the loss of one so special and to support each other with a hug and a tot or whisky or two. In the end, the real legacy of Flick Rea was in the people who she loved, and who loved her in return. It is a living legacy.

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.