I first met James in 2003 when I was living in Loughton and a Conservative volunteer, spending many Saturdays travelling over to Hornchurch to campaign. Most weekends we were lucky if there were more than 6 of us out, but it always felt like fun.
James was one of the nicest people in politics and very supportive of me when I decided to move to work for the Party professionally, which sadly meant no longer being able to help his campaign. It's a huge loss to the Party, his friends and family.