Colleagues and family members of a former Haringey councillor and school governor paid tribute at packed council meeting this evening.

Cllr Pat Egan, who died in July aged 66, had been a Woodside ward councillor for eight years and was chief whip of the Labour group on the council.

His wife, two children and two brothers attended, along with Martin Tissot, the headteacher of St Thomas More School where Cllr Egan was a governor, current councillors and former councillors David Schmitz and Nigel Scott.

Mayor of Haringey Kaushika Amin opened the meeting by acknowledging that each person knew a different Pat Egan.

She said: “He often said ‘I’m just the hoi polloi, I’m not important’ but that wasn’t true.”

Cllr Egan’s brother, Tommy Egan, spoke of his “generosity and spirit”, remembering his impulse to help the “troubled and distressed”.

Mr Egan said he thought Cllr Egan had learned early from their parents, who used to “visit the old, lonely and sick” and invited anybody who was alone to at Christmas to dinner.

Cllr Egan’s son Shaun, who followed in his father’s footsteps to become a teacher, said his father was “straight-talking” and “an inspiration” to his children.

He said: “He’s gone but he’ll not be forgotten. Seeing you all here tonight shows how he impacted on so many people’s lives.”

Martin Tissot, of Thomas More School, remembered first meeting Cllr Egan when a young teacher in the 1980s, when he was the deputy head of Upton Park School in east London.

He said: “He wasn’t just good at sorting out those naughty boys and girls, he was also a person of great compassion. He understood the traumas and the difficulties that blight the lives of many young people.”

Almost every current Labour councillor spoke of their memories of Cllr Egan, including Councillor Ann Waters, who described how he would rescue her when she was in trouble with angry residents.

Cllr Waters was one of many councillors to refer to Cllr Egan’s knowledge of literature and history, saying: “I have never met anyone else who used the word ‘hubris’ totally correctly”.

Liberal Democrat councillor Clive Carter said that Cllr Egan had been instrumental in beginning work on preserving the old BBC studios in Alexandra Palace, rising above party divisions to work with his political rivals for the common good.

Several councillors spoke of his distress at a period of bad results suffered by St Thomas More, including former pupil Councillor Stuart McNamara. Councillor Claire Kober spoke of his extreme pride when, while he was a governor, the school was rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted.

Councillor Joe Goldberg said: “He was truly a rare politician, and if there were more politicians like him, the world would be a much, much better place.”