Tributes paid to one of longest serving East Sussex county councillors - 'he was a true gentleman'

On Tuesday (May 9), county councillors spoke and held a minute’s silence in memory of Cllr Rupert Simmons, who died at the age of 70 last month.

Leading the tributes, council leader Keith Glazier (Con) said: “Rupert was not only a good councillor for this council and other areas, but for me he was a true friend.

“I could spend a lot of time this morning running through all of the posts and portfolios that Rupert took on diligently — and those of you who knew and worked with Rupert will know that whatever task you set him, you could be assured he would fulfil it.

“I would much rather spend a few moments reflecting on what I considered to be a truly wonderful human being and friend of ours, who I shall sorely miss. Not just in the council chamber, but across life generally, he was there to help.”

He added: “I think the world was a better place for him being here and I personally lost a real friend.”

Similar tributes were paid by the leaders of the council’s other political parties.

A county councillor since 2001, Cllr Simmons was said to have had a wide and varied career before going into local politics.

He started out as a chartered surveyor in Surrey before deciding to travel Europe and further afield. During this time he worked in advertising in Oslo, Sweden, before going on to form a music business in Vienna, Austria. He later recreated this business in the USA.

He later returned to the UK, working at both London Weekend Television and the Observer newspaper.

He moved to Waldron in East Sussex in 1990 and (after a few years) became involved in local politics there. He was elected to Heathfield and Waldron Parish Council in 1997, joining Wealden District Council shortly afterwards in 1999.

He was first elected to the county council in 2001 and had remained in office ever since. After time, as both council chairman and cabinet member for education, he became cabinet member for economy in 2013; a role he had held continuously since then.