Minister for civil society Nick Hurd paid a warm tribute to erstwhile Navca chief executive Kevin Curley at the organisation’s parliamentary reception in the House of Commons last night.
In his customary dry-witted tone, Hurd opened with a reference to the previous evening’s Oscars ceremony: “Many very good films were overlooked,” he said. “One of them: ‘We have to talk about Kevin’. Luckily tonight we have a chance to correct that wrong.”
He went on to describe Curley as a constant source of “very direct and very trustworthy advice”.
“I have relied on lots of people to give me advice – and lots more have given me advice even when I didn’t ask for it – but I have always relied on you Kevin to tell me the way you see it. I’ve valued that enormously.
“You have done a magnificent job on behalf of your membership and I will miss you.”
He said he had put Curley on the spot a few minutes earlier by asking him what he was most proud of in his 40-year CVS career. “He immediately replied: ‘The way the members and the CVS network have adapted over the years to the need to change but always remained focused on the mission’. I think that tells you a lot about the man – he was put on the spot and that was his instinctive response.”
Hurd also spent a minute formally welcoming Curley’s successor, Joe Irvin, to the role, and was unable to resist a humorous dig at the former Labour adviser: “He’s worked with some thoroughly dodgy people in the past…but he’s very dedicated and I thoroughly look forward to working with him.”