Hundreds of mourners attend Prestonpans funeral of council leader Mr Willie Innes

The Labour politician died last month after a long battle with cancer and, mourners were told, worked to the end.

Hundreds of people gathered outside Prestonpans Labour Party Social Club in the rain to join Mr Innes’ family as they walked behind his hearse to the town’s cemetery.

Current and former MSPs joined local councillors, staff and local residents for his final journey, while workmen stopped to bow their heads as the funeral procession made its way along the road.

Mr Innes, who was 70,  had served as a local councillor for more than 30 years.

Originally born in Zambia, his dad William was a carpenter from Edinburgh and his mother Marion, a South African nurse.

The family moved to Scotland when Mr Innes was just eight-years-old and he joined the Royal Scots after leaving school, serving two tours in Northern Ireland.

Crowds spilled out of Prestonpans Cemetery into the street as a graveside service was held for the devoted family man.

OBITUARY: Mr Willie Innes

Former Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, who retired as  East Lothian’s MSP earlier this year, paid tribute to Mr Innes as a friend, colleague and “wise counsel”.

He told mourners: “Of all the politicians, local, national and international, I have worked with he was the best.

“At a time when the reputation of politics is as bad as it is with those who are in it for themselves, it is right to reflect on the life of Willie Innes as a politician who was as it should be.

“He had a fierce political intellect and a powerful understanding of how local government worked.

“His real moving force was not in his head it was in his heart. At the risk of sounding ridiculous, we are nothing without love and Willie was nothing but love.

“He was that rare thing – a politician who did not have any personal ambition for himself; his ambition was for the community and people he served.”

READ MORE: Colleagues pay tribute to 'great champion'

A father and grandfather, Mr Innes was described as a devoted family man who always put his wife and best friend Janis and their children and grandchildren first.

The graveside service was led by civil celebrant Rona Duncan who told mourners the family had been “deeply moved” by the messages of sympathy and support following the council leader’s passing.

East Lothian Council will meet next week when elected members will be asked to appoint depute council leader Norman Hampshire, a long-time friend and colleague of Mr Innes, to the leader's role.