SIR David Amess embodied everything that is good about public service.

He fought for people. He was visible. He was respected. He loved his constituency of Southend West and fought passionately about the town he loved. He never missed an opportunity to press Boris Johnson on Southend becoming a city.

So much so that if you ask anyone in Parliament for their first thoughts about Sir David Amess, it is fair to say the words Southend and city would be involved.

The Conservative MP served as an MP for 38 years, initially in Basildon from 1983 before he took on the role of representing Southend West from 1997.

Sir David, 69, regarded his main interests and areas of expertise as “animal welfare and pro-life” issues.

But his campaigning efforts in the House of Commons in recent years were most closely associated with Southend.

Sir David, who was married with four daughters and a son, was not shy in ensuring questions he asked of Government ministers also included his long-running campaign to make Southend a city.

In December 2019, he secured an adjournment debate in the Commons specifically on the campaign and he told MPs: “I am not messing around.

“We have got it from the Prime Minister that Southend is going to become a city – and it will become a city.”

Community spirit, the proposed marina and the airport were among his arguments.

As a strident supporter of the British monarchy, Sir David saw another opportunity in November 2020 as the Commons considered plans for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year.

He asked for a new statue of the Queen and for a city status competition to elevate Southend’s status.

In March 2021, Sir David repeated his statue calls – insisting the Queen deserved one for being a “great” monarch.

His campaign for a memorial to Dame Vera Lynn on the White Cliffs of Dover also won support from a minister in May this year.

Away from his campaigning, Sir David announced in December 2019 that he would run to be one of the three deputy speakers in the House of Commons.

He ultimately missed out and continued with his support for Brexit.

On December 30 last year, he posted a photo of a cardboard cut-out of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher on Twitter.

He wrote: “Whilst Margaret didn’t live long enough to see this day, I am sure that she is rejoicing in heaven. At last we ‘got Brexit done’!”

One of his proudest moments was earning a knighthood for public service in 2015.

He was even pictured dressed as a cavalier in woodland to mark the occasion.

ONE OF Sir David's biggest inspirations was his mother, Maud who died in 2016 at the age of 104.

Devout Roman Catholic Maud Amess passed away at Nazareth House care home, in London Road, Southend.

Paying tribute at the time, Sir David said: “Most people think their mother is wonderful. My mother was not only wonderful, she was an inspiration to our family throughout her long life.

“If you really love someone the longer they are around the tougher it can be for those left behind. No more Christmases, no more birthdays, no more family celebrations together.”

Sir David added: “Our mother was the last to die, outliving all her brothers and sisters and her friends. She had a very tough upbringing, the family struggled to make ends meet and they slept three or four to a bed.

“She worked incredibly hard all her life, becoming a court dressmaker and making a wedding dress for the late Duchess of Gloucester. In the Second World War she and her family were evacuated to Essex.”

Mrs Amess later joined the Land Army, receiving her badge of honour at Downing Street at the age of 95.

After the Second World War, she married husband James and stayed home raising their two children until they were old enough for her to return to work.

Sir David said after her death: “After all manner of jobs, she ended up as perhaps the City of London’s number one tea lady. She was known as ‘Mrs Tea’. She gave up work in her 70s to look after our ailing father.

“She was in every sense a strong woman, who did not have a lazy bone in her body and would give you her last penny. She was also a devout Roman Catholic. She loved all of her family and did so much for them all. We owe her everything and will never forget our mother, who was simply the best.

“We thank the priest, nuns and all the staff at Nazareth House for all the wonderful care which they gave her.”

Aside from Southend’s city status, one incident also became associated with Sir David – much to his frustration.

During a Commons debate in July 2017, Sir David said it was an “absolute disgrace” that people continue to mock him for being duped by Brass Eye about a fake drug.

He labelled the tone of that year’s general election campaign “jolly disappointing”, explaining some on social media “take the mickey” out of him because of Cake – a creation of the satirical Channel 4 programme developed by comedian Chris Morris.

Sir David said youngsters and Channel 4 should feel “shame” for their actions as the 1997 episode followed the death of his then-constituent Leah Betts from an ecstasy overdose.

Addressing a short debate on the future of Southend Hospital in 2017, Sir David spoke of the “rudeness” he experienced during the election campaign.

He said: “The things that people now say, young, middle-age or old, to we the politicians who take the blame for decisions of bureaucrats and others who are paid twice as much as we are, frankly, but the way they can use the word F, C and all the rest of it disgusts me.

“So if you go on to the social media, you’ll see the mickey is taken out of me because of Cake.”

In the Brass Eye episode, Sir David was shown condemning Cake.

He described it as a “big yellow death bullet in the head of some poor user – or custard gannet as the dealers call them”.