Martin Davies – ‘Diamond who just wanted to help’
Rival parties pay tributes to Conservatives’ leader in Camden following his sudden death
Published: 08 July, 2010
by DAN CARRIER
HE was described as a “diamond” – a man whose personality glittered, and had many different facets.
And that was reflected in the huge number of mourners who came to the funeral of Conservative councillor Martin Davies, who passed away unexpectedly three weeks ago.
It was a celebration the like of which no one had ever seen at the Holy Trinity church – and was fitting for a politician who was a unique figure in Camden.
More than 250 people packed the Finchley Road church on Friday to celebrate the life of the leader of the Conservatives in Camden.
Mr Davies’s partner Richard Boaste gathered friends from the theatre world to help say goodbye: an eight-strong band and a 30-plus choir, made up of professional singers from the West End stage shows Rent and All Shook Up, sent glorious music into the Finchley Road and drowned out the busy traffic.
Friends, colleagues and family wore orange – Mr Davies’s favourite colour.
Mr Boaste told the congregation: “Some of you will not know the existence of others – these facets of Martin’s life have come together today.”
He described how the couple met on May 3 1999, drawn together when Soho pub the Admiral Duncan in Old Compton Street was the subject of a shocking nail-bomb attack.
Mr Boaste joked how he had “grabbed his passport” to head out of the West End to the heady heights of Hampstead after the atrocity – and had got talking to Martin in the William the Fourth pub on Hampstead High Street. They swapped numbers and quickly fell for each other.
Mr Boaste said: “Both our groups of friends were shocked. We’d not been the types to look for a relationship. Our friends were like: ‘what is this all about?’”
Mourners also heard of Mr Davies’s love of travel, his devotion to his dog Benson, his abilities as a ballroom dancer, his health-conscious lifestyle, and his interest in astrology.
Mr Boaste then read WH Auden’s poem Stop The Clocks, and joined the choir as they sang the song made popular by Elvis Presley, I Can’t Help Falling In love With You.
Councillors from all parties were there to pay their respects, as well as a host of ex-Town Hall members.
Mr Davies’s fellow Frognal Conservative councillor Dawn Somper paid tribute, and in the pews were former Labour councillor Gerry Harrison, who had flown in from Ireland, while Anna Stewart and Raj Chada, both former leaders of the Labour group, also attended.
Vicar Andy Keighley said: “He was above politics, he wanted simply to help.”
Tory colleague Andrew Mennear, who has taken Mr Davies’s place as the Tories’ leader in Camden, said: “He has been part of my life for such a long time and we got to know each other well as we went twice a week, knocking on doors.
“I once sat in for him during one of his surgeries that he couldn’t make, and a lady came in and said, ‘oh, you’re not Martin’. I asked her if I could help and she said she’d simply popped by to say hello and have a gossip.”