We are sorry to have to announce the death of our former MP Oliver Colvile at the age of 66. Many of you will already have heard of this because of the tributes that have been appearing on the news and in social media both locally and nationally.
Oliver came to Plymouth in 2000 having been selected to fight the 2001 general election. He had family connections, but although having never lived in Plymouth before he quickly made it his home.
His enthusiasm for politics and campaigning was boundless, helping many others as well as myself in the local elections of 2000 when we took control of the City Council. This persisted for a decade and after narrowing the gap in the elections of 2001 and 2005 he was finally elected in 2010, in an unusual for Plymouth three way split in the vote.
Oliver always led from the front, his commitment to Plymouth and the House of Commons was complete, and his friendliness and preparedness to talk to anybody and everybody secured the much more difficult task of retaining the seat in 2015, with the collapse of the LibDem vote and the return to 2 party politics. He was aided in this by a strong team led by his then agent Stuart Pilcher and I remember well the joy and relief on the night of the 2015 election when he retained the seat.
Sadly, he lost the seat in the 2017 General Election over the furore created by the Labour Party and others over the much misnamed ‘dementia tax’ which was an attempt by Theresa May to improve the funding of domiciliary and residential care. This has still not being achieved to protect some of people’s assets nearly a decade later.
Despite suffering the loss of his seat from this fallout, Oliver continued to view Plymouth as his home, still fought to raise the profile of Plymouth, and was a great friend to many of us in the Conservative party and beyond. He was also great fun while campaigning and when not, often generously entertaining people at his flat.
It was our privilege to work with Oliver during his years as an MP in Plymouth. A kind and respectful man who actively supported local groups such as Friends of North Quay restoration, and a Plymouth Hedgehog Rescue charity. He was passionate about the provision of good quality homes, both social and new build houses. An avid cricket fan, and Vice President of Plymouth Albion RFC. More recently Oliver was President of Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Conservative Association, and encouraged Candidates for Parliamentary and Local Elections.
Many people have different anecdotes to share, please forwrd these to [email protected] and we will pass these on to his family?
He will be remembered fondly by many, and also for his fair and even handed approach in the political world, where he was respected by many of his opponents for his gentlemanly behaviour in a rather rapidly changing world.
Sadly, his health declined, particularly during Covid and for the last two years he had been living in residential care near his sisters and brother in Surrey.
We have lost a true advocate for Plymouth.
