A former Bewdley man who organised the general election campaigns for the Conservatives in Kidderminster has died on Christmas Day at the age of 78.

Brian Binley joined the Conservative Party in 1958. He was an organiser with the National Young Conservatives from 1965 to 1968 before training as a Conservative Party Agent.

The former Leader of the Wyre Forest Conservatives, Stephen Clee, said: “Brian was very well known in the Wyre Forest as he served as the Conservative Association Agent in the 1970s, fighting the General Elections for the old Kidderminster Divisional Seat when we used to include villages like Astley, Shrawley and Tenbury.

“The seat was vast, but Brian had a tremendous ability to generate great enthusiasm with the party faithful and volunteers”

Mr Binley lived on Hales Park in Bewdley and stood for election himself in 1980 following a Local Government Boundary Review when Wyre Forest went to annual elections.

He was unsuccessful and shortly afterwards moved from the Wyre Forest to his home County of Northamptonshire where he built a successful Market Services Company employing over 160 people.

He was elected to Northamptonshire County Council in 1997. He then won he Labour-held Parliamentary marginal seat of Northampton South, and defeated the sitting Labour MP Tony Clarke at the 2005 general election by over 4,000 votes. He was re-elected with an increased majority at the 2010 General Election.

In January 2013, he revealed he was suffering from "low-grade lymphoma affecting white blood cells" and would undergo chemotherapy. He announced he would retire from Parliament at the 2015 Election. He died in Northampton General Hospital.

Brian was a huge football fan and when he was in Kidderminster, he always attended matches at The Harriers. He was a devoted fan and shareholder of Northampton Town Football Club.

Mr Clee added “Brian returned to the area on many occasions when we had old stalwarts pass away like Harry Purcell, Elizabeth Mills and Graeme Wormald. He never forgot his roots here with the community he loved”.

“Brian was a clever man but more importantly a nice man. He never forgot the real people out there in society. He was well loved and committed to working for ordinary people. He had great local government knowledge and never forgot it” RIP Brian you will be sadly missed.

He was married and divorced three times and is survived by his two sons James and Matthew.