Wally Burgess

ISLINGTON council’s deputy leader has paid tribute to her husband, who has died in a care home after contracting coronavirus.

Wally Burgess, 79, who himself served as a Labour councillor for more than a decade in Islington, passed away yesterday (Monday) in the care home in Angel where he had been living for the past two years. He had been also been suffering from a long-term illness.

His wife Councillor Janet Burgess, who is deputy leader at the Town Hall, told the Tribune that he received “amazing” treatment right to the end but neither she nor his children could visit him.

Cllr Burgess said: “He was irrepressible. He had an amazing sense of humour and he would tell long convoluted stories just to end up with some frightful pun. It used to drive me absolutely bonkers, but he was genuinely funny and very witty.”

Wally Burgess (right)

Mr Burgess was first elected as a Labour party councillor in the St George’s ward in the west of the borough in 1998 which he served for 12 years before switching to Canonbury, which he represented for a further four years.

He was born in Barking, east London. His father Walter was a postman while his mother Olive raised two children and went to work in a factory to help fund Mr Burgess’s education.

He went to University College London to study physics and later worked in IT.

He met Cllr Burgess in 1970 at a local Labour party ward meeting in Ilford. She Burgess moved to Camden, Dartmouth Park, because she knew some friends who lived there and Mr Burgess soon moved as well. The pair married in 1973.

At the age of 35, Mr Burgess became the youngest ever alderman in Camden when he was co-opted in 1975. Aldermen were effectively unelected councillors, like the House of Lords.

The couple later moved to Archway, Islington, where they brought up their three sons.

Mr Burgess has been described as a “larger than life” character who was very active in Labour Party circles.

He kept his seat in St George’s ward in 2002 after the Liberal Democrat surge which saw them take control of the council, a night which saw Labour only holding 10 places in the Town Hall chamber.

Councillor Satnam Gill, one of the current Labour councillors in St George’s ward, said: “Wally was really popular on the estates and streets. He was big on planning. He was wise, witty and smart. He used to absolutely tear into the Liberal Democrats in the council meetings. I can’t think of a more wonderful councillor, to be honest.”

Catherine West, former leader of Islington council and current Labour MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, told the Tribune: “He was the life and soul of any party. He was always very outgoing and he made a lot of jokes. We always had a good laugh and he loved all the shenanigans going on at the time with the Lib Dems in charge but he was also very serious about his work.

“He loved anything to do with transport, planning and the environment.”

She added: “He was full of life. So, for Covid to have attacked him and for his family not to be able to be with him is just so hard.”

Current Islington council leader Councillor Richard Watts said: “He was very much a larger than life character. He was a people’s person and he had waspish ideas that he was always trying to put into action.”

Mr Burgess often had an issue that he was campaigning on and he became a regular voice in the Tribune during his council days.

Peter Gruner, a former Tribune reporter, said: “Wally was very ‘old school’. He enjoyed dealing with bread and butter council issues like bad housing or council estate problems. He was a very nice bloke and we stayed friends for a while even after he was forced to retire due to ill health.”

Cllr Burgess took care of her husband until 2018 when he moved into Bridgeside Lodge care home in Angel, where he received “wonderful” treatment, she said.

She is planning to organise a celebration event with his friends and family when the UK’s current lockdown restrictions are lifted.

She told the Tribune: “I want people to remember him as he was. His children and grandchildren have great memories of him and his humour.

“He was very adventurous. He would try any food. If he didn’t like something the first 10 times he would try it again the 11th time in case it improved.

“We went to Thailand quite a lot because our oldest son was living there. There was a food vendor who brought round bugs most days. I tried some of the bugs once and I didn’t do it again. Wally would eat them with great enthusiasm.”

She added: “So many tributes have been absolutely flooding in saying how kind he was and how much he loved being a councillor. He was a lovely man.”

Cllr Burgess said she did not know when the funeral would be held but she has asked that if any friends or relatives would like to help out the family, they could donate money to Alzheimer’s Research UK here.