Tributes paid to 'loyal, hard-working' councillor

Tributes have been paid to a "loyal, hard-working" councillor who died this week.

Councillor Richard Maisey, from Stroud, became the second Labour councillor to be elected for the Severn ward on Stroud District Council and was Simon Opher's election agent in 2024.

Mr Maisey, who worked as a Gloucestershire solicitor, also served on the environment and development control committees.

Describing him as a "one-off", his daughters Lara and Fran said he was "so full of life" and "lived it to the full".

"He had such a strong sense of principle which he brought us up with. People meant so much to him."

They said their father, who "was so passionate in his beliefs" including protecting the environment, adored his grandchildren Hugo and Finn and his son-in-laws Tim and Chris.

Lara and Fran said their father's family stretched far and wide and included "many different Stroud Valley Communities", including people who canvassed for Labour, those in his sea shanty singing group and those he met through his work as a district councillor for Severn Ward.

"His broad smile, his laughter, his hat, followed him everywhere he went. Even if sometimes that laughter was at his own jokes. He was our Dad, and we loved him.

"He will forever be in our hearts. He was, to mirror at least one comment, genuinely irreplaceable," they added.

Simon Opher, Labour MP for Stroud, said: "The news of the death of Richard Maisey fills me with great sadness. He was one of my best friends in the Labour Party, both loyal, critical, and above all hard working and good fun.

"He had a wonderful sense of humour, got us into and out of all sorts of scrapes, all the while wearing his trademark hat.

"I will miss him greatly."

The Stroud Constituency Labour Party said in a statement: "Richard had a great eye for detail, was a wonderful and indefatigable campaigner, and brought a rather mischievous sense of humour to everything he did.

"He had been a rock for many of us, especially over the last couple of years.

"He was also extremely kind, which is increasingly a rare, but very special quality.

"All of us in the local Labour family owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude."

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