POLITICAL figures past and present joined hundreds of mourners at the funeral of former Finchley and Golders Green MP Rudi Vis.

On a dull and overcast morning at Golders Green Crematorium, a fondness for the late politician came shining through from all sides of his life.

As requested by Rudi, the funeral was non-religious, and the regular patter of personal and political humour worked to lighten the mood to a level more reflective of the 69-year-old's love of a good joke.

In attendance amongst family and close friends, were politicians who had worked with Rudi on many levels, whether it be on Barnet Council, in Government or on the Council for Europe.

A look around the chapel today, and one could be reminded of the many lives of Rudi Vis, politician, campaigner, lecturer, entertainer, husband, father and loyal friend.

The wicker coffin, adorned with a bouquet of white flowers from his loving wife Jacqui, rested beside pictures of Rudi in action as a traditional Labour stalwart and as a fun-loving family man.

Three tributes were read out in an attempt to capture some of the spirit and many memories associated with the father of three, who was born in the Nazi occupied Netherlands in 1941.

First to speak was Father Christopher Hardy, of All Saints Church, East Finchley, which is located close to Rudi's constituency home.

He emphasised Rudi's wish for it to be non-religious, but jokingly highlighted the irony of a vicar running it, and welcomed those of faith to what he termed a “coalition service”, in recognition of the country's current political make-up.

He recalled arriving in the area during the twilight days of the Thatcher years, Rudi's “stunning electoral triumph” in 1997, and joined the chorus of many mirthful mourners who took great comfort in remembering Rudi's “wicked sense of humour” and him as a “zany entertainer”.

From his time working in Amsterdam's red light district, the father said Rudi developed a lot of his decency towards others. Quoting an expression of Rudi's, he said: “One should, in the first instance, think of all sorts of people, as people.”

Next to pay tribute was Douglas Fenn, who worked with Rudi for 25 years at the University of East London, and he highlighted immediately his friend's “amazing capacity for work.” which he believes he took to his work as an MP.

He described the former economics lecturer as “intellectually rigorous, a keen thinker with an insightful mind” and said being around Rudi “was never dull or conventional”.

Hundreds of students, according to Mr Fenn, would have been nurtured by Rudi and his approach to the subject, and his question in life was always “what can I do to help?”.

It was left to the right honourable John Prescott, introduced up to the lectern as “a star of stage and screen”, to summarise Rudi's role in Westminster and across Europe as a representative on the Council of Europe.

The former deputy prime minister said with delight, that the first he heard about Rudi was when it was announced he had won in Margaret Thatcher's old seat, and said it showed the character of the man that he managed to hold on to it in two further elections.

He described Rudi as a “formidable campaigner” who once took on Italy prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in a debate and openly criticised the Turkish PM for the trouble in his beloved island of Cyprus, while also showing his support for Iranian refugees.

Mr Prescott said the party could never be sure how Rudi would vote on key issues, and remembered the way he would say, in a composed manner but with conviction, that he was not sure if he could be supporting certain policies.

Rudi's famed idiosyncratic retort was: “I have tried not to be a rebel, but it has not always been possible.”

A full farewell would have included accounts of the time he spent in America, his time as a councillor on Barnet Council, and his early years when he was heralded a promising footballer, who represented Ajax at youth level.

But as the mourners filtered out from the chapel into the crowds who had followed the service on screens and speakers outside, the many faces who represented sections of Rudi's past were comforted by their each other's thoughts of a modest man who would have humbly rejected the kind sentiments that echoed from all corners.