From left: Dino Constantinou, Natasha Constantinou, MP Jeremy Corbyn, Tina Mackay, Nitsa Bucknell, Paul Constantinou, and in front, Richard Mackay the funeral of Lorraine Constantinou

FRIENDS and family said goodbye to a “North London legend”.

Formidable, kind and independent, Lorraine Constantinou, who has died aged 78, championed the community on the Elthorne Estate in Archway and stood up to injustices for all in her two terms as a Liberal Democrat councillor in the Town Hall.

“She hated injustice,” said her daughter Tina Mackay at her mother’s funeral at Islington Crematorium last week.

Ms Constantinou was always keen to stand up for those in need: whether that was by visiting the elderly and vulnerable on her estate no matter the weather to check up on them, or taking one of her grandchildren to their first protest demonstration when she was 72.

“Her hard-working nature and passion for justice made her ideally suited to the role [of a councillor], and there are many in Westminster who could learn from her,” said Ms Mackay.

Ms Constantinou was born in Dublin, Ireland, and grew up in County Wicklow. She moved to Highbury with her mother in the 1960s, and eventually moved to the Elthorne Estate in 1980 as one of its first residents. It was on that estate that her community spirit shone.

Lorraine Constantinou

“Mum was also like the estate’s blue light brigade,” said Ms Mackay. “It seemed she was always on call wherever she was, whatever time of day or night, the weekend, annual leave – the phone would ring, and mum would respond to residents’ calls. And, a bit like The A-Team, mum would come to deal with the problems and was never fazed by it.”

She added: “People used to pop into our house for a chat and a coffee all day. In the early years, the door would be left unlocked and mum’s friends would let themselves in to make a coffee and I’d hear them shouting upstairs, ‘Lorraine, I’ve made you a coffee.’

“My mum was proud of her roots and her life on the estate, and she made sure that each of us was too.

“Living on the estate did come with dramas. Mum loved a bit of blue light action – fire, police, ambulance, women’s auxiliary, the Red Cross, India 99 – you name it, mum would be the first at the window. And, if you were on the phone that would be swiftly aborted.”

Starting out her working life as a typist, then an accountant, and then owning a dress manufacturing business, Ms Constantinou was no stranger to hard work, and her daughter said that she cultivated a persona that was formidable and independent.

“My mum always was working people out, and I remember my friend Becca saying, when she first met her, ‘oh, your mum is wonderfully scary’ and since then referred to her as ‘Scary Lolly.’”

This persona soon fell by the wayside when you got to know her. She was a softie at heart who loved nothing more than sitting at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee, chatting to friends with “soaps or Doc Martin in the background”.

Her love of the community earned her friendships for life, with some of her closest offering to smuggle her out of the Whittington Hospital and across the road for a pint of Guinness during her final days.

Ms Mackay said: “Our mum Lorraine was a terrific mum to us all and a fabulous friend and advocate to so many. We will miss her always.”