Tributes have been paid to a former Cumbria County councillor described as a ‘source of wisdom and inspiration’ who has died aged 99.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, has paid tribute to Mary Wane, a former Windermere councillor for the county council.

Mr Farron said: “Mary Wane was to me a good friend, a dedicated supporter and a source of wisdom and inspiration.

“She was a founder member of the SDP in 1981 and was very proud to be part of that ‘club’ who were there at the beginning alongside the likes of Shirley Williams and Roy Jenkins.

“She was a popular and hard-working county councillor for Windermere, stepping down in 1997 the year before I became the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Westmorland and Lonsdale.  However, she was really bad at ‘doing retirement’, she was incapable of putting her feet up and continued to be an active Liberal Democrat for a quarter of a century after she’d ‘retired from politics’, right up until last year.”

Mr Farron said she was a supportive figure throughout his career as an MP.

He said: “At times Mary was my volunteer caseworker, office manager, and driver.  She was a constant source of advice and support.  Generous with her time, she was dedicated to the cause.  When I lost the 2001 general election in Westmorland at my first attempt, I remember her consoling words and promises of ongoing support the day after.  She was one of those who convinced me to keep going.

“Mary was someone who I felt was always on my side, so much so that she had no fear of telling me when I was being daft, and I was always grateful (well, mostly grateful) when she put me right.”

He also spoke of Mary’s work as a diplomat.

He added: “Mary had a stellar career as a diplomat, was a passionate internationalist and a proud European – she came from a generation that knew the horrors of what nationalism and European disunity can lead to, so she cheerfully gave herself to fighting against a recurrence of those horrors.

“Mary was one of the cleverest and most cultured people I have known, she would often leave me bewildered by what she knew and what I didn’t know…. although you rarely left her company without her having added something to your knowledge bank or vocabulary.

“Mary Wane was a kind, clever, dedicated, funny and lovely person whom it has been my honour to call a friend and whom I will now miss bitterly.”