by Alan Watkins

messengernews@thekmgroup.co.uk

A packed congregation including government ministers, politicians and friends paid tribute to the memory of one of Kent’s foremost council leaders on Thursday.

They heard how Cllr Mark Squire Worrall, 58, led Tonbridge and Malling council despite being unable to write or hold a paper because of multiple sclerosis.

He died in April after a short illness, but managed to keep a cheerful sense of humour until the end.

In addition to his council work, Cllr Worrall was a non-executive director of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, a parish councillor in West Malling, chairman of Age Concern, and for many years was closely involved with West Malling cricket club – a game in which he was an enthusiastic player until he developed MS.

He was also the Conservative Party’s Youth Officer.

Among those at the service in the parish church of St Peter and St Paul in Tonbridge were the Secretary of State for Communities, Eric Pickles, and the former Minister for the South East, Jonathan Shaw.

Repeatedly, speakers referred to the way he put others first.

Tim Thompson, the former chief executive of the council, said: “He never went on holiday, there was rarely an evening when he was not working at the council, and he always put the needs of others, especially the disabled, ahead of his own. He was one of the most gifted local authority leaders of his generation. I shall miss his fun, his eloquence and fearless loyalty, and enormous courage in the face of his disability."

Another Irishman, Canon Brian Stevenson, former Vicar of St Mary, West Malling, remembered Cllr Worrall as head server at the church, though he was eventually unable to serve bedcause of the illness.

Mr Stevenson said: “He did an awful lot of good for people and only now are we finding out about it. He did it almost by stealth. He was a wonderful person.”

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev James Langstaff, said: “Imagine all the lives he has influenced. When it comes to Mark Worrall we have no shortage of things which are of good report. His innings is complete. He is the Man of the Match.”

Sir John Stanley, the Tonbridge MP, said Cllr Worrall was dedicated to public service, and was honoured with the OBE, one of the few in second-tier local government to be given a national honour.

The lessons were read by the Leader of Kent County Council, Paul Carter, and the new leader of Tonbridge and Malling, Cllr Nicolas Hislop.