Over 40 years service to the Liberal cause in Wiltshire was honoured at the funeral of John Thomson, who died of a brain tumour in the Prospect Hospice on May 7.

Mr Thomson was born and brought up in New Zealand and came to the UK in 1955, where he lived in Cheshire. In 1958 he met Ann, whom he married in 1961. Their only son, Paul, was born in 1962.

The family moved to Wiltshire in 1967, living in various villages around Marlborough and Aldbourne, for a short spell in Hampshire and then in West Overton and Charlton St Peter before finally moving to Marlborough five years ago.

Mr and Mrs Thomson were keen Liberals and Mr Thomson soon met former county councillor Jack Ainslie with whom he did a great deal of campaigning.

Mr Thomson stood as a Liberal parliamentary candidate and later as a Lib Dem for the Cotswold seat in the 1994 European election.

When he retired he continued his political activity as a backroom boy, planning and organising various political campaigns. At the time of his death he was chairman of Devizes constituency and vice chairman of the Western Counties region Liberal Democrats.

His one political regret was that he never managed to get elected to any council in Wiltshire, his much-loved adopted county.

Mr Thomson also became involved in the ecumenical movement in Marlborough and played a part in establishing the Ecumenical Partnership. He and Mrs Thomson were early Brandt Group members and hosted various people from Gunjur in The Gambia.

Another interest developed in his retirement was in the Credit Union movement. He became chairman of Kennet Credit Union and at the time of his last illness was engaged in trying to negotiate a merger between the five existing Credit Unions in Wiltshire.

His final retirement project was to undertake an Open University course which he completed in 2007, gaining a first class honours degree in history, which delighted him greatly.

His funeral was held at St Thomas More’s RC Church in Marlborough on Thursday last week, when the church was full to capacity.