Ex PM's tributes to 'colossus who changed my life'
BBCFormer Prime Minister Tony Blair has paid homage to his political "guardian angel" at a funeral in his former constituency.
Mourners gathered at St Mary Magdalene Church in Trimdon village, County Durham, for the funeral of John Burton, who died last month aged 85.
He was Blair's Sedgefield constituency agent for 24 years. During a eulogy at the packed church, Blair referred to him as a "colossus", with wisdom as big as his heart.
Blair said: "He changed my life, not just the ascent to high office, but the purpose of it all, what matters and why."
Blair said Burton, a former local councillor, was a "vital part in renewing the Labour party here in Sedgefield".
He said he asked Burton for help ahead of his first successful election campaign for parliament in 1983, which made him Labour's youngest MP.
"From then on he was at my side and had my back," Blair said.
He added even after becoming Prime Minister, he would turn to Burton for help and advice.
He said: "I wouldn't have been what I was or what I am without John, but I also wouldn't have been who I am without John."
The packed church heard Burton was born in Trimdon in 1940.
He met his wife Lily aged 15 and the pair married seven years later.
Burton was a teacher, football coach, folk musician and was active in local politics and the church.
Reverend David Lucas, who led the service, said: "Top to bottom, he loved the village, he loved Trimdon and loved the people here.
"He helped people to find homes, secure their futures, helped them in whatever way he could, with what little influence he had, he worked to make this place just that little bit better."
Burton leaves behind children Caroline and Jonathan, and grandchildren Ricky and Lily.
Blair said Burton had been a man who "seemed to live an ordinary life but was not at all an ordinary man".
He said he had a "legendary" sense of humour and was charming and intelligent.
"John was content where he was, here was where he belonged by choice," Blair said.
"It made him lesser known in the outside world, it made him beloved and respected inside his world because this was the world where he could touch lives directly and personally and deeply."