HEARTFELT tributes were paid to the late MP Rudi Vis by those closest to him following his funeral last week.

Warm sentiments were expressed at the wake, which coincided with the emergence of summer sunshine, to make for a highly appropriate setting at College Farm, in Fitzalan Road.

The venue was close to the heart of the former Labour MP for Finchley and Golders Green, who fought “tirelessly” to save the farm from closure, and on Friday, it played host to many mourners from Rudi's past in politics, his life as a lecturer and his key roles as father, husband and friend.

His wife Jacqui, mother of his two teenage twins Pip and Tog, said the tributes paid at the funeral captured him perfectly.

She said: “It was just right. I think he would have appreciated it. I don't know if he would have wanted it but he would have appreciated it.

“There are people here I have never seen or even heard of and it is incredible tribute to him and the work he did.

“It was very emotional for me and the boys and we were very touched by the words.”

Rudi's older son Bram, from a previous marriage to an American woman, Joan, said he remembered playing keepy-uppies with his football loving father in Harrow-on-the-hill.

He said he hoped the funeral captured the many chapters of Rudi's life, including being born into Nazi occupied Holland, joining the airforce, working as a lecturer and his career as a politician, which Barm said he just “walked backwards into”.

His son said: “He had massively varied areas of his life and he is probably from the last generation to have that.

“He was a traditional working class Dutchman. There are people here from every decade of his life.

“It might seem a bit politically led but that was only the latter part of his life. You can be a politician and try to exert change without being a politician, and he did that behind the scenes by leading his life a particular way.

“When you stand in Finchley, Thatcher's old constituency, there's no automatic assumptions there. If you really want to be an MP then you contest a safe seat.”

Rudi's political assistant, David Robinson, worked with him for 12 years and said the pair forged a close friendship during the many hours spent in Westminster.

He said: “It would only be the two of us so it becomes a marriage in some ways. Obviously at times there are disagreements but most of the time we worked very well together and eventually you become more like friends.

“I certainly enjoyed my time working there and my time working with him. It's difficult to explain the relationship you do build up, but we knew each other so well by the end it all became smoothly running.”

Mr Robinson recalled Rudi's wit, his strong stance on views, even if they went against the government's, and his caring nature towards people in his constituency and across the wider world.

But he said his enduring memory is of the relaxed nature associated with his friend.

He said: “Sometimes we had been working very hard, it would get to half past five and he would say 'put you pen down, have a glass of whisky'.

“He would lean back in his chair, put his feet up on the desk, and we would just sit, that's what I will remember.”

Fellow mourner and former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, helped plant a tree at the farm in memory of Rudi, and he said: “You not only liked and respected Rudi, you soon got to love him. I was a pleasure to know him.”