Charles Kennedy’s 10-year-old son Donald was in the Commons yesterday to hear a series of glowing tributes to his father following his tragic death this week.
Sitting in a public gallery with his mother Sarah, the former Liberal Democrat leader’s boy was addressed directly by a number of his dad’s former colleagues amid emotional scenes at Westminster.
A special session was held after the first prime minister’s questions of the new parliament so that MPs could pay tribute to Mr Kennedy, who was found dead at his home near Fort William on Monday night.
With several members close to tears, Liberal Democrat leadership contender Tim Farron said: “Donald, you should be really proud of your daddy. I am proud of your daddy.
“I loved him to bits. I am proud to call him my friend. God rest you, Charlie.”
Tom Watson, who is challenging for the deputy Labour leadership, also directed his words towards Mr Kennedy’s son.
He said: “Your father was a very great man; he stood up for what he believed in. He led a party of the centre-left with dignity and compassion.
“When you are older, you will know that your mum and dad believed in a cause greater than themselves and you will be proud.”
Speaker John Bercow, who was also holding back the tears, kicked off the session, saying: “Charles had the rare ability to reach out to millions of people of all political persuasions and of none across the country who were untouched by, and in many cases actively hostile to, politics.
“In this seminal sense, therefore, Charles was the ‘boy next door’ of British public life.”
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “At his best he was the best that politics can be, and that is how we should remember him.”
A total of 23 MPs from seven different parties delivered tributes during a session that lasted for more than an hour.
Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman said she remembered Mr Kennedy’s arrival at Westminster aged 23, in 1983, describing him as “the golden boy from the Highlands”.
She added: “History will show that he was one of a great generation of Scottish MPs, at a time when Scotland gave this House some of the finest politicians of the era.
“Exceptional politicians such as John Smith, Donald Dewar, Gordon Brown, Menzies Campbell, Robin Cook—he stands tall in a Scottish generation who were head and shoulders above their peers.”
Angus Robertson, the SNP’s Westminster leader, revealed that Mr Kennedy agreed to meet him after last month’s election to share his experience of his leadership of the Liberal Democrats when they were the third biggest party, saying it was a “mark of the man”.