Tributes poured in from all sides of politics to the veteran Labour politician and former cabinet minister Tony Benn, who has died at home at the age of 88.
Labour leader Ed Miliband described the former figurehead of the Labour left as an “iconic figure” and said the party had lost a “champion of the powerless, a great parliamentarian and a conviction politician”.
Prime Minister David Cameron said that Mr Benn ensured there was “never a dull moment”, even for those who disagreed with every word he said.
First elected to parliament in 1950, Mr Benn renounced a peerage in order to remain in the House of Commons and was an MP for more than 50 years, serving in the cabinets of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan and staging a bitterly divisive battle with Denis Healey for the Labour deputy leadership as the champion of the left in 1981.
He famously retired from parliament in 2001, saying he wanted to “spend more time on politics”, and won a new status as a national treasure touring the country to speak to packed audiences in venues from town halls to West End theatres and the Glastonbury Festival. Well into his 80s, he was a familiar and popular figure at demonstrations and anti-war rallies.
In a statement, his children Stephen, Hilary, Melissa and Joshua said: “We will miss above all his love which has sustained us throughout our lives. But we are comforted by the memory of his long, full and inspiring life and so proud of his devotion to helping others as he sought to change the world for the better.”
Mr Miliband said: “He believed in movements and mobilised people behind him for the causes he cared about, often unfashionable ones. In a world of politics that is often too small, he thought big about our country and our world.
“Above all, as I had cause to know, he was an incredibly kind man. I did work experience with him at the age of 16. I may have been just a teenager but he treated me as an equal.”
Labour’s former prime minister Gordon Brown said: “Tony Benn was a powerful, fearless, relentless advocate for social justice and people’s rights whose writing as well as speeches will continue to have a profound influence on generations to come.”
The chair of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, John McDonnell, said: “Tony Benn was the articulate advocate of social-ism who inspired my generation and gave us all hope of a fair and equal society.”