Keith Moffitt and Flick Rea with Liberal Democrat friends at Harry Potter World

Over the years people have asked me “so, how did you get involved with the Liberals?”. The answer is just two words “Flick Rea”.

Back in 1980 Flick stood in a by-election in Fortune Green ward, where I was living in a rented flat. After a canvasser knocked on my door, I put up a poster for the Liberals and after the by-election, which Flick did not win, she sent me a handwritten note thanking me. Little did I know that this was a standard weapon in Flick’s armoury.

I remained an armchair member until one evening I agreed to do some door-knocking.

The evening ended up with drinks at Flick’s house and I was instantly charmed by this vivacious, witty and charming lady who must just have turned 40 at the time. I soon learnt that saying no to Flick was almost impossible, and got more and more involved in the Liberals, as they then were. The journey between 1994 and my becoming leader of Camden Council in 2006 is for another place, but Flick was a constant in it.

The kitchen at 84 Agamemnon Road was always the centre of activity, often fuelled by generous helpings of “Flick food” – which meant lots of fry-ups and no vegetables or garlic! Flick’s fish pie was legendary.

I was in awe of Flick’s organisational skills and her ability to charm people into doing things.

She was a great believer in helping people set up local organisations and then trusting them to get on with it – groups like Friends of West Hampstead Library, Friends of Hampstead Cemetery and Friends of Fortune Green.

And she was for many years one of the key organisers of the annual Jester Festival on Fortune Green.

Throughout all this time, we developed a very strong personal friendship.

With her theatrical background, it’s fair to say that Flick was unshockable, and I often poured my heart out to her at her kitchen table over a bottle of wine. There were also many late-night telephone conversations – we were both night owls and it was perfectly OK to ring Flick at midnight.

The conversations were just as likely to be about books, films, plays and TV shows as about politics.

Flick was incredibly well educated and knowledgeable, although she regretted that her training at RADA didn’t lead to a degree and I think had a slight inferiority complex because of that.

Her erudition was particularly evident when we had a holiday in Rome together to mark her 25 years on the council, and visiting Rome with Flick was like being accompanied by an expert tour guide; her knowledge about Ancient Rome and the cities many cathedrals and churches seemed to know no bounds.

Flick and I were famous for bickering like an old married couple – or perhaps a mother and son.

But the disagreements were never serious or long-lasting. Our friendship was intertwined with our political activities and even after Flick stepped down from the council in 2021, there were many planning sessions and postmortems at Flick’s kitchen table.

I feel so lucky to call this amazingly energetic, intelligent and charming woman my best friend, and I know that it will be a long time before I stop thinking “I must just call Flick and tell her about that”.

One thing is for sure: Flick will live on in the hearts of all her friends and all the people she helped over the years.

What better legacy could you hope for?

Keith Moffitt is the former leader of Camden Council