FRIENDS and family will gather next week to celebrate the life of well-known Farnham resident Dennis Saunders, who passed away peacefully at his home on January 5.

Dennis was best known for standing as the Liberal parliamentary candidate for South West Surrey in 1959, 1964 and 1966, and he worked hard to put the Liberals on the map in the constituency.

When he first stood, South West Surrey had a strong Conservative vote, but he was proud to have moved the local Liberal party from third place to second, gaining 28 per cent of the vote.

This provided a platform for the following three elections where the Liberal SDP Alliance and then the Liberal Democrats were close to winning the local parliamentary seat in 1984, 1997, and 2001.

At their closest, the Lib Dems were only 861 votes behind the Conservatives.

Dennis was president of the Lib Dems in South West Surrey until 2007 and remained actively involved in both local and general elections.

His constant involvement helped lead the Liberal Democrats to run Waverley Borough Council from 1995 to 1999, and again from 2003 to 2007.

Neil Sherlock CBE, who was the Lib Dem candidate in the 1992 and 1997 elections, said: “Dennis was a great Liberal champion and it was terrific to campaign with him in the elections in the 1990s when I was the parliamentary candidate.

“He had built the support in every town and village locally and was a great inspiration. Dennis was a generous, caring, and committed man who will be much missed by his many friends across our community.”

Throughout his life Dennis made contributions in different directions. In the early 60s he joined the national campaigning group DIG (the Disablement Income Group).

Based in Godalming, its aim was to lobby MPs for a National Disability Income. Dennis became chairman and in that time DIG was successful with the introduction of the attendance allowance; a financial benefit which transformed the lives of many people with disabilities and their families.

Dennis’s career as an advertising co-ordinator for the giant corporation Unilever gave him the opportunity to travel far and wide. He was instrumental in developing many innovative advertising campaigns for top brand margarines such as Stork, Echo, Blue Band and Flora.

He retired from work in 1988 and enjoyed his later years in his much-loved home in Tilford with his wife Kathleen. He leaves behind his wife, two daughters, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Dennis’s funeral will be held at Guildford Crematorium on Monday, February 13, at 1.30pm.

His family have requested no flowers but donations in his name are welcome to the Shooting Star Chase children’s hospice charity.