Roy Hattersley, former Labour deputy leader, dies aged 93

Roy Hattersley, who served as deputy leader of the Labour Party under Neil Kinnock, has died at the age of 93.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to Lord Hattersley as "a giant of the Labour movement".

The Sheffield-born politician entered Parliament in 1964 as the MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook, a post he held for more than three decades.

He served as a cabinet minister under James Callaghan in the 1970s and became the party's deputy leader in opposition for nine years following its historic defeat to Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in 1983.

Sir Keir said: "Through decades of service, including as deputy leader and a minister, he never lost his belief in a more equal Britain.

"My thoughts are with his wife Maggie and his family."

Lord Hattersley entered the cabinet as secretary of state for prices and consumer protection in 1976, before Labour was thrust into opposition three years later - after which he vocally opposed the party's shift to the left.

As deputy leader under Neil Kinnock, he encouraged his party to embrace multilateral disarmament, the market economy and the European Union.

He was made a life peer as Baron Hattersley of Sparkbrook after leaving the Commons in 1997.

Lord Kinnock described Lord Hattersley as a "a socialist of deep conviction, a dedicated democrat who believed that liberty should be unqualified by anything but responsibility and never by background or fortune".

He said: "He held that freedom had to be made real and secure by collective action and contribution, by accountability, and by equality.

"He was fluent and courageous in expressing these beliefs in speech and writing and wrote countless columns and published 20 books.

"He was never solemn nor deferential and his common sense, humour and endless stories made him excellent company."

Former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair called Lord Hattersley "one of the greats of the Labour Party for decades" and a "rare breed nowadays in politics".

"He was also great fun to be with, endlessly creative and amusing and even when we disagreed which we did quite frequently when I was Labour leader, he did so with good humour and the best of intentions," Sir Tony said.

Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell said he had "shaped the Labour Party and British politics".

"He was a giant of our movement and of that generation of politicians."

She said he had been "kind, thoughtful and full of sound advice".

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said Lord Hattersley had spent a "life devoted to politics, public duty and writing".

New Labour strategist Alastair Campbell described Lord Hattersley as "Labour through and through" and "a loyal and hard working deputy to Neil at a vital time in Labour history".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Lord Hattersley was "defined by the things he didn't do" - pointing to his decision not to join the breakaway SDP party in 1981 and choose instead to "stay and fight" in Labour.

Labour MP Dame Emily Thornberry told Radio 4's Westminster Hour: "Whatever he believed, he believed 100% and he expressed it with great clarity and we need more politicians like him."

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