Hundreds of friends, family members and colleagues packed into a New Malden church to pay their respects to former Kingston Conservatives leader Howard Jones.
The St James ward representative, who in May became the first Tory leader to win control of Kingston Council in 20 years, died late last month after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 71.
Oct 29: Former Kingston Conservative leader Howard Jones dies
His funeral was held at St James Church in Bodley Road on Thursday.
Conservative colleagues including Kevin Davis, who succeeded Coun Jones as leader following May's election victory, and north Kingston MP Zac Goldsmith, were among the mourners.
St James Church was packed with mourners for the service
Fellow St James ward councillor Ken Smith, the mayor of Kingston, was also in attendance, as was Kingston Council chief executive Bruce McDonald.
The service was led by Rev Lorenzo Fernandez-Vincente, before the family attended a private burial at Kingston Cemetery.
A reception was then held at Imber Court in East Molesey.
A fitting floral tribute for Coun Jones - a devoted Chelsea fan
Coun Jones' wife Judith thanked everyone for their support on behalf of the family.
She said: ““The letters, the cards the messages the beautiful flowers - we’ve been terribly touched and its a great comfort to us.
“The amount of people who turned up and then came to Imber Court speaks for itself, and shows you how popular and well loved Howard was."
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