by Peter Watt

My good friend Tony Gardner died this week, aged 84 years old. I hadn’t seen him for a couple of years, but I kept in touch with how he was. He was the man who first really got me active in Labour politics and was a friend, mentor and supporter for many years. I know that I will miss his friendship. But I will always have fond memories of the pints of beer and conversation we enjoyed in The George and The Blue Boar.

We sat, supped, reviewed that evening’s canvassing and planned our assault on the political citadel of Poole borough council. His advice has stood me in good stead over the years, even if we never quite managed to take the borough chamber.

Tony was the Labour candidate in Wolverhampton South West in 1964, losing to Enoch Powell. He was elected to the House of Commons for the Rushcliffe constituency in 1966 and served for four years before losing to Ken Clarke in 1970. He stood again, unsuccessfully, in the two elections in 1974 in the Beeston constituency. He moved to Poole on the south coast and over the years he stood in countless local elections and then was Labour’s candidate at the 1994 European elections in the Dorset and East Devon Constituency. He once told me that he’d joined the Labour league of youth because its parties attracted the best girls. (more…)