A FORMER mayor of Hove has died aged 83.

Ed Cruickshank-Robb passed away on August 8 at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

He was born in 1935 in Aberdeen and moved to Glasgow when he was eight. He met his wife Sheila when they were at university in the 1950s.

They married in June 1959 and had four daughters, Lesley, Lucy, Jenny and Lorna.

Before becoming a councillor, he had a career in the pharmaceutical industry in UK and Switzerland, then returned to Buckinghamshire in 1971 and then moved to Hove in 1973.

Ed became a councillor for Knoll ward in 1976 and had chaired Hove Conservatives for 11 years before joining Labour in 1998.

He became mayor of Hove from 1986-1987 with a strong focus on health charities and the arts.

Ed was passionate about supporting stroke victims. He founded the Stroke Care Trust in 1999, a charity which raises money to provide resources to stroke care groups in the city.

Friends and colleagues remembered Ed as a man who was not afraid to stand up for his beliefs.

Labour councillor Les Hamilton, representing South Portslade, fondly remembered Ed as a very well-respected member of council.

He said: “I met Ed in 1976 after I became a councillor in 1974. After Ed retired he used to organise annual dinners for past and current Hove mayors in the Princes Marine Hotel.

“We always got along very well. There were very few political differences on Hove Council and we always had a chat before and after council meetings.

“He started the local stroke clubs and for some years my wife ran the Portslade one in the community centre.

“We kept in touch after he retired from council. He was a very independent person. I remember there was an occasion the Conservative group took some decision and he didn’t agree with it.

“He came into the meeting wearing a T-shirt that said ‘I am not a rubber stamp’.

“Ed always did what he thought was right and he was never afraid to stand up for what he believed in.”

Ed and his wife set up and ran Hove Manor Clinic, in Hove Street.

Sheila worked as a physiotherapist and Ed was a podiatrist. The couple worked in the clinic well into their 70s on a part-time basis.

He was school governor of several schools in Hove, and chairman of St Andrew’s school.

Five of his ten grandchildren attended St Andrew’s. He was also a warden of the church, where he was involved in music with Sheila, who is a talented musician.

Ed also had a publishing company producing medical journals and golf magazines.

The former mayor was also a dedicated family man.

His daughter Lesley said: “Dad was a real family man and loved big family get-togethers.

“He enjoyed and was proud of his ten grandchildren.

“He was always keen to know how they were getting on and encouraging them with their hobbies and academic lives.

“Dad had a great sense of humour and enjoyed a good laugh. He will be missed by us all.”

Ed also enjoyed holidays in Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire, Madeira in Portugal, listening to classical music and going to the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. He retained an interest in politics to the end, and was passionately against Brexit. He moved to Plymouth later in his life.