Tribue to Roger Walshe

Roger’s commitment to Liberal values, to fairness and to individual freedom,  ran through all his political life. After earlier campaigns with the Liberal Party in Croydon he came to Sevenoaks and quickly became a leading member of the organisation.

I first met Roger in 1984, when I came to Sevenoaks as an SDP member, and we worked hard to make the most of talents across both organisations. Our efforts were quickly rewarded with the election of Sevenoaks’ first Liberal County Councillor in 1985. In 1987 Roger and I were elected to the District Council in a shock result for the the Wilderness ward in the town. As the strength of the party grew after the formation of the Liberal Democrats, Roger played a huge role in extending the party’s reach across the District.

In 1993 we returned two County councillors to Maidstone helping to remove the Conservatives from office at Kent County Council. Then in 1997 Liberal Democrats won 20 District council seats, from Edenbridge to South Darenth, becoming the largest party and Roger became the leader of Sevenoaks District Council.

The new council had several achievements between 1995 and 1999 including:

• investing in huge improvements to the quality and sustainability of social housing in the District, repairing the relationship between SDC and its main housing provider
• supporting local bus services to make them genuinely affordable to many people for the first time
• starting investment in Sevenoaks’ first proper leisure centre
• securing private investment in the Blighs shopping development, with a widely supported plan
• tackling recycling and a range of ‘green’ investments

Roger continued as leader of the opposition after 1997, and chaired committees which advised and scrutinised the Council under the new Cabinet system. He has also been active in a range of organisations, including Sevenoaks Society, the Sevenoaks Town Partnership, the local Shakespear Society and many others connected with the arts and music. He also stood as Parliamentary Candidate in 1992 and 1997

Roger’s lasting contributions to Sevenoaks include the improvement to social housing, the fact that Sevenoaks has a ‘proper’ leisure centre, and the Blighs development which secured Sevenoaks future as a commercial centre. He is missed by many friends and colleagues.

Tony Clayton
7th April 2025