THE mother of former Worcester MP Peter Walker has died, aged 94.

Rose Walker passed away peacefully on Sunday morning at the Baptist Rest Home in Britannia Square, Worcester, where she lived for the past 10 years.

She had spent her life helping others, through charities, the church, and through campaigning for her son, who was the Conservative MP for Worcester for 31 years.

"She campaigned in every General Election campaign from 1918," said Lord Walker, who held many ministerial positions in the Heath and Thatcher governments, including Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Energy, Environment, and Secretary of State for Wales.

The daughter of a policeman, Rose Dean was born in Woolwich on July 8, 1906.

In 1925 she married Sydney Walker, an engineer, and had two sons, Sydney and Peter.

For many years she lived at the Old Parsonage, Warndon, and for the last 10 years of his life, nursed her husband, who was handicapped with a form of polio.

After his death in 1965, she decided to take up driving so she would not be isolated and passed her test first time at the age of 57.

When Lord Walker married Tessa Pout in 1969, Mrs Walker bought a flat in London to be closer to her son and daughter-in-law and enjoyed resuming her visits to the House of Commons to "keep up with the debates" as she had been used to doing.

At election time, she spent hours each day at Tory headquarters and would pound the streets canvassing for the Conservatives, but she seldom revealed to voters that Peter Walker was her son.

"I'm just a party worker," she would say. Mrs Walker also attended election meetings with her son, who was only 23 when he contested his first seat of Dartford.

In 1983, Mrs Walker was unable to vote for her son for the first time in 22 years, due to boundary changes which meant her home in Fernhill Heath was three miles outside the Worcester city boundary and was now in the newly-created Mid-Worcestershire constituency.

Despite this, she worked tirelessly on his campaign and on polling day, she followed the habit of a lifetime by casting her vote at 7am and then rushing to the committee room at Bedwardine.

Mrs Walker played a pivotal role in the setting up of St Richard's Hospice in Worcester, which provides palliative care for people with life-threatening illnesses.

She was also very active in the church and worked hard to get St Wulstan's Church in Warndon up and running when it was first built in the early 1960s.

Mrs Walker was an "incredible" knitter, according to Lord Walker, who said all of his and his brother's socks, pullovers and scarves were "all her work." She also loved playing whist.

Mrs Walker leaves nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren

Her funeral will take place at St Wulstan's Church, Warndon, on Monday, April 30, at 2.30pm.

Donations can be made to St Richard's Hospice in Worcester through E J Gumery & Son Funeral Directors, Ombersley Road, Worcester.