Tribute on the news of the death of John O'Grady, former Southwark councillor and leader of Southwark council

6.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 14th Apr 2009

The death of John O'Grady will be sad news not just for John's daughter, grandchildren and wider family but also for many others who worked with him and knew him in his many years as a local councillor and as leader of our council. In many ways John became a legend in his own time - and his exceptional period as Southwark's leader meant that he was known and respected across London as well as within Bermondsey and more widely in Southwark.

John was a council leader for his age, when Labour meant old Labour and before New Labour had been invented. Of course it is history that the Labour left did not love him and eventually replaced him. Of course it is also history that John stood in the by-election after Bob Mellish left Labour and stood down as MP. People might expect that political opponents must be personal opponents as well. In this case, as in most, John's family will I believe confirm that I always respected him for his public service and his fantastic local commitment to the community from which he came. This should not disguise that John was also a wily political leader! He was no nonsense and knew how to get things done.

After John's retirement I used to see him and Elsie regularly and much enjoyed catching up on national and local political and other chat. It was a pleasure to many that John and Elsie continued to live in Bermondsey for so long after his political retirement. It is unlikely that in the years ahead any Southwark leader will match the length of service which John gave to the borough he loved.

Simon Hughes