HUNDREDS of people attended a memorial service this week for a former leader of Bromsgrove District Council.

Peter Jarrett, who passed away on December 27 in Hereford County Hospital at the age of 79, had been a member of Bromsgrove District Council from 1973 to 1983, representing the Beacon ward in Rubery, and leading the council for a time, before moving on to chair the Bromsgrove Conservative Association for four successive terms into the early 2000s.

Alan Dent, another former chairman of the Bromsgrove Conservative Association said: “Peter was very active with Bromsgrove Conservative Association. He took a physics degree at university and then he just got more and more involved in politics. He’s been a great stalwart for the Conservative party until he became poorly. He was a great raconteur he could talk about anything, and if we needed a speaker at any time we’d call on him.”

In the early 2000s while the Conservative party was struggling nationally to find its feet, Peter worked with the then Bromsgrove MP Julie Kirkbride, supporting her in the national press when she was one of only eight Tories to defy a three-line party whip on adoption in 2002 voting in favour of allowing unmarried couples to adopt.

In his role as chairman he steered the association through a period of division and mistrust, helping to select Conservative candidates for the district and county council elections in 2003, declaring there to be ‘no unwinnable seats for the Conservatives’.

He also worked with the then Redditch parliamentary candidate Karen Lumley who would go on to become an MP herself.

Karen added: “I knew Peter very well, in fact I worked with him alongside Julie Kirkbride and Rita Dent, particularly on campaigning issues early in the 2000s.

“I remember him as a great member of my campaign team and as a superb mentor in the years after I arrived in Redditch, for which I will always be very grateful – he will be sadly missed.”

Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid added: “I was deeply saddened to learn of Peter’s death. He was a lovely person who contributed so much to our community, including serving as leader of Bromsgrove District Council and as chairman of Bromsgrove Conservative Association. His advice meant a great deal, both to me and to my predecessors as Members of Parliament for Bromsgrove. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Isobel at this difficult time.”