Tom Watson: My tribute to Wally Burley – a quiet hero of the Labour movement

Wally Burley: 14 September 1930 – 27 August 2016.

Wally Burley was a man of conviction- and that conviction carried him into the arms of the Labour Party he loved.

For many youngsters growing up in the Labour family in the 1970s, Wally Burley was the Labour Party. And for Wally, the Labour Party was an integral part of who he was.

Even his social network was defined using a Labour Party taxonomy. To Wally, I was always “Young Tom from Wyre Forest CLP.” If pushed, he might add: “Mum a stalwart; Dad a bit of a hot head.” Our leader was: “Jeremy Corbyn, Wrekin Young Socialists 1967.”

Wally became a member aged 15 and remained an activist for 71 years. He was selfless in his commitment to the Labour Party and unstinting in his support for his Labour colleagues, long after he retired. Our party colleagues in Walsall and Bromsgrove CLPs will attest to that.

He first Labour Party role was as a membership recruiter in Dorking in 1957. He moved to the West Midlands in the 1960s to take up a job as a Labour Party organiser. And he would stay in the region for half a century, apart from a period in London when he worked at head office as the party’s first ever National Constitution Officer. Wally carried out that job with distinction. He wrote the Legal Handbook for Election Agents, which is still the set text for Labour party staff today.

His commitment to our party was as uncompromising as it was total. So too was his support for West Bromwich Albion football club. I know that Wally was delighted he was able to make it to West Brom’s home game against Everton this season, despite the fact he was very ill. Wally was a familiar face at the Hawthorns and I have no doubt that when many of us in the party recall Wally we picture him wearing a West Brom top.

Supporting the Baggies has its ups and downs. So too does working for the Labour Party. Because it may be the right path but it is not always the easiest path. And Wally knew that. He was here in the difficult times. He was in the West Midlands in the 1960s when we were losing seats in our electoral strongholds in Birmingham and fighting fierce and unprincipled Tory attacks in places like Smethwick. He was there in the 1970s when Labour was losing seats to the Tories in by-elections in former strongholds.

It is easy to keep the faith when things are going your way – when your team is winning. Plenty of people want to organise and campaign when Labour is overturning Tory majorities and winning back marginal seats. It is far tougher to do that when the political weather is against you. And Wally more than most weather many political storms. The Wally I remember was formidable adversary as well as a loyal friend.

He was a man of conviction, and those convictions ran deep.

Our mutual friend, the former MP Bruce George, told me that during 40 years of debates, discussions and disagreement Wally never once conceded he might be wrong! Some might call that stubbornness. I call it being consistent. Because Wally was nothing if not consistent. He was a vegetarian all his adult life and when he was well into retirement, he became a vegan. There was nothing half-hearted about Wally’s commitment to the causes he believed in.

Many people in the Labour movement know about Wally’s work on animal welfare. Each year he would track me down at our party conference to collect the £20 membership subscription for the Labour Animal Welfare Society. How many people retire from a lifetime of service in the Labour Party and immediately set up campaign group? That’s exactly what Wally did.

His work at the Labour Animal Welfare Society helped to change Government policy. Working alongside Michael Foster, he was instrumental in the introduction of the Hunting Ban. It was Wally who set up the LAWS karaoke night at Labour Party conference, an event that has now become part of the fabric of annual conference. I’m delighted it will be going ahead next month in Liverpool as planned, as a tribute to Wally, with our friend Martin Angus leading the singing.

He was resolute in his opposition to the honours system too. That was typical of Wally. I remember when his colleagues were trying to persuade him to accept an honour for his services to the Labour party. I find it impossible to think of anyone who was more deserving of that recognition.

But he only agreed because that honour was bestowed on him by leader of the Labour Party. That was so typical of Wally. He wouldn’t even accept an honour without a fight.

And he wouldn’t go to the Palace to collect it. But I know he was delighted to see so many friends and colleagues, past and present, at the Labour party’s regional office to see him receive his MBE. They were so many people there, all of them united in their respect and affection for him.Wally was a loyal friend and a fierce adversary. Labour was lucky to have him. And I was privileged to know him. I will miss him. We will all miss him.

Tom Watson is MP for West Bromwich East and deputy leader of the Labour Party.