Eric Wright Kay,of Workington

Last updated at 19:55, Thursday, 19 July 2012

Former Allerdale councillor and Labour party agent Eric Wright Kay has died, aged 80.

EX-COUNCILLOR: Eric Kay

Mr Kay was a councillor with Workington borough and Allerdale district councils from the 1960s to the 1980s.

He was an active member of the Labour Party and served for five years as agent to Workington Constituency Labour Party under Dale Campbell-Savours MP.

Mr Kay was born in Salterbeck on May 28 1932.

He worked as a pattern maker at Ogden and Lawson and then at Chapel Bank foundry and was the youngest councillor on Workington Borough Council in the early 1960s.

He was elected to the Harrington ward, as he lived on Rose Hill.

After losing his seat in 1965 he served on the South ward from 1970 until Allerdale District Council was created in 1974, chairing the housing committee from 1972 to 1974.

He sat on Allerdale council until 1982.

He left Allerdale council shortly after the closure of Chapel Bank, as he felt that membership of the council would hinder his search for employment.

He became the manager of the Centre for the Unemployed until his retirement in 1983.

He was the treasurer for the local Labour Party and Labour Club and was also an agent for Sir Tony Cunningham in the 1994 European Election campaign.

When he was not working, he found time to serve as the leader of Harrington Cub Scouts.

He was a keen fell walker and an amateur wine maker – he was a partner in Bellaport Wines for three years.

He was married to Agnes for almost 50 years. He is survived by his sister Elaine Tugman and Agnes’s sisters Judith and Jean and their families.

A service for Mr Kay will be held at Distington Hall Crematorium today, at 1.15pm. It will be led by close friend Brian Wilson and Sir Tony Cunningham.

First published at 19:20, Thursday, 19 July 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk