Jim Daly's online book of remembrence

12.00.00am GMT Sun 10th Nov 2002

Message 8 Date received: 10/11/2002 Time: 9:40 am

Email mrichards@london.newsquest.co.uk

Name Malcolm Richards

Comments:

Mourning a man of true vision

Hundreds of mourners crowded into Our Lady of Grace and St Edward?s Roman Catholic church in Chiswick on Wednesday for a Requiem Mass for Jim Daly, president of Hounslow Lib Dems - but better known for his three decades of work on environmental causes. Mr Daly, who would have been 66 on the day of his funeral, lived in Bath Road, Chiswick.

He was first elected as a Labour member of Hounslow Council for Bedford Park and immediately threw himself into the implementation of traffic restraint measures and the revitalisation of the canal system and riverside freight facilities. He was a passionate campaigner against air noise and road encroachment, long before they became part of mainstream politics.

When elected to the Greater London Council a few years later, he pursued his mission with gusto and went on to lead the powerful GLC Transport Committee, helping to bring many of his ideas to reality. It was through his tenacious efforts that the first major pedestrianisation scheme in London came into being in Leicester Square - but he faced enormous abuse from businesses, the motoring lobby and taxi drivers. He was also savagely attacked when he spearheaded Labour's later bid to limit traffic into central London and cut back on parking space. He was subjected to a barrage of threatening letters, many threatening him with physical violence, and had a dead cat pushed through his letter box.

He was viewed as a pariah by the motoring lobby and Road Freight association. He was at the forefront of the green wing of the Labour party for many years. His calm and dogged work resulted in many radical measures which are now an accepted part of the London strategies being extended under the GLA. But by the eighties, Jim Daly was disillusioned about the way his party was moving and joined the Social Democrat Party, which eventually merged with the Liberals to become the Lib Dems.

Jim Daly was born in Ireland and brought up a Roman Catholic. He left school at 15, but through his work with the Co-operative Movement managed to get higher education and secure a place in university a few years later. He went on to become a distinguished college lecturer. He was unmarried and lived in Chiswick for many years. Many old friends were among the huge congregation, plus major figures from the Labour and Lib Dem parties. Full tribute - see page 10.

A man with great visions for a greener London Following the funeral this week of Jim Daly, politician and Chiswick resident, the editor of the Times, Malcolm Richards, who knew him for more than 30 years, paid this tribute:

Jim Daly was a truly good man - in every sense of the word. He was also charming, interesting and fun. As a journalist covering the Hounslow area I got to know him well. He was tireless in his determination to bring about change in environmental attitudes and, although he despised petty party politics, he channelled his endeavours through the political system. The strange thing was that, although I had been to his house many times, interviewed him on countless occasions, visited him at County Hall after he was elected to the old GLC - I never learned much of Jim's personal life or childhood.

He was a very private person. He always kept himself in the background. He was forceful in tackling the causes he believed in, but did not seek personal publicity at all. What has emerged since his death is that many others felt the same - they knew, loved and respected the man, but knew little of his personal circumstances. I lost touch with Jim for many years when I got deeply involved in editing papers on the other side of the river, but last May he phoned me out of the blue and invited me for lunch in a Chiswick restaurant.

We spent a fascinating two hours talking about past achievements and his plans for the future and the way he wanted our cities to be made greener and safer. He only mentioned his illness once - when he told me he was about to go into hospital the following week. He was cheerful and full of optimism. He did not give me any idea that he was seriously ill and it did not show on his face, nor was it reflected in his conversation. He promised that we would meet again as soon as he came out of hospital and talked about how we could further the environmental passions we both shared. I was completely shocked when a friend showed me a brief announcement in the Guardian that he had died.

Jim Daly played a big part in shaping my vision of how life could be made better for all Londoners through appropriate political action limiting heavy lorries, restricting expansion at Heathrow, utilising canals and rivers and taming the motor car. Jim Daly had a spiritual quality that influenced all who came into contact with him and is the kind of man that we badly need in politics today. We can only hope his example inspires others to take the same road for the same altruistic reasons. From the Brentford, Chiswick and Isleworth Times of October 11 2002

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Message 7 Date received: 10/5/2002 Time: 4:17 pm

Email john.howliston@hounslow.gov.uk

Name John Howliston

Comments:

My special memory of Jim occurred some years ago when my wife Robina and I went to his house for one of his celebrated parties. After a superb buffet when I was totally replete, I sat me on a chair. What with the excellent repast and the warmth of the room I fell asleep. During the rest of the evening, Jim (I was later informed) held animated conversations with me, addressing my recumbent form as "Minister", to the great amusement of all present (I would have been amused myself - had I been awake!)

As we left to go down the stairs, Jim shook me *very* warmly by the hand and said "Goodnight Minister". I was totally confused until Robina told me what had been going on. He was a lovely man and we all shall miss him.

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Message 6 Date received: 9/27/2002 Time: 1:28 pm

Email reid1966@yahoo.co.uk

Name Barbara Reid

Comments:

I was really sorry to hear of Jim's death. Over the years ours paths crossed many times - at council meetings, election counts, canvassing, and I suspect even in the Jolly Farmer. He was always very pleasant and polite with a great ability to keep things in perspective. My sympathies to his family and friends. Barbara Reid

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Message 5 Date received: 9/25/2002 Time: 1:11 pm

Email rene@kinzett.fslife.co.uk

Name Rene Kinzett

Comments:

There is a notice in today's "Guardian" regarding Jim's funeral.

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Message 4 Date received: 9/24/2002 Time: 3:00 pm

Email Harjindersinghkhalsa@btinternet.com

Name Harjinder Singh

Comments:

I am a relatively new member of the Hounslow Lib Dems, but I did speak to Jim Daley a number of times. He was a good man, and will be missed. Harjinder Singh

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Message 3 Date received: 9/24/2002 Time: 2:27 pm

Email phil@isleworth.org

Name Phil Andrews

Comments:

Although Jim's reputation as a great campaigner for his community is well known, I didn't know him personally. The only time I actually encountered him, unfortunately, was as a political extremist in a former life when I heckled him (rather drunkenly) at an SDP public meeting at the old Hounslow Town Hall in 1983. Needless to say, he took the whole thing in his stride.

Like many things I did in those days I came to regret having done this, not least because everybody I have ever met who knew Jim has told me what a decent and likeable human being he was, as well as a tremendous worker for his cause. I would like to offer my sincere condo-lenses to his family and everybody else who knew him.

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Message 2 Date received: 9/23/2002 Time: 11:19 am

Email rene@kinzett.fslife.co.uk

Name Rene Kinzett

Comments:

Jim was a great friend as well as political colleague to so many people, not just in the Borough and not just in the LibDems. I always thought we were so lucky to have a man with such extensive national political contacts and influence working with us in Hounslow. It would have been so easy for Jim to have concentrated solely on his national business and political interests and to let his local patch sort itself out. But Jim took an active role in local political constantly. From being pivotal in setting up the unified Hounslow Borough Liberal Democrats to organising our campaign and standing in this year's elections in Chiswick Homefields, Jim helped us out to the last.

We all benefited from Jim's experience as, in turn, a Hounslow Borough Councillor (for Labour, SDP and Liberal Democrats for three different wards at both ends of the Borough); GLC Member (the only non-Tory to represent the Brentford & Isleworth constituency in its current form until the arrival of Ann Keen in 1997) and Parliamentary and European Parliamentary candidate in so many elections. There cannot be many people in the Hounslow LibDems who have not been invited for lunch or drinks at Jim's beautiful Bath Road, Chiswick, house to be given good advice on how to improve on the good work being done or to be told to "stop messing about and get on with it!" Jim was known most fondly for his acute sense of fun and huge capacity to enjoy life.

He loved good lunches at the National Liberal Club, where I first met him properly and where, two years ago, he kindly introduced me as a new member. When I won a council bye-election in Swansea in 1997, Jim called for me to come round to Bath Road and collect a good bottle of wine he had for me. I 'phoned him at 8pm to arrange to see him that evening. Jim observed that I was "very keen" and that I had obviously "woken up with the Milkman" that morning. Once I finally guessed that Jim thought it was actually 8 AM, I told him that it was the evening and not the morning, to which he responded "Oh, dear, I went out for a long lunch and got back around 5pm and must have dozed off"! Jim was known and loved by so many people and will be missed terribly by all those who's lives he touched.

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Message 1 Date received: 9/23/2002 Time: 10:12 am

Email webmail@andydarley.com

Name Andy Darley

Comments:

When I arrived in Feltham and went to my first Lib Dem meeting there was a framed newspaper front page on the wall: it commemorated Jim's victory in the first bedfont by-election. It showed me straight away that Jim was a person around whom remarkable things happened.

Over the years I learned how many facets there were to his life and interests, and I also learned useful lessons from him - principally when he sat me down one lunchtime over a lasagna and told me there was no point waiting for other people, sometimes you have to step up and get things done yourself. It's going to be very strange not having him around.