Labour peer dies throughout cruise vacation with spouse in Iceland
Labour peer Lord Alan Haworth has died aged 75 whereas on vacation together with his spouse in Iceland, the social gathering has confirmed.
A secretary of the parliamentary Labour Party from 1992 to 2004, Lord Haworth went on to turn out to be a member of the House of Lords. The social gathering mentioned he died on Monday morning.
Lord Haworth and spouse Maggie Rae had been on a cruise of Greenland and Iceland when he fell ailing final week. He was helicoptered to a hospital within the capital Reykjavik and was handled for bacterial pneumonia. He died of a coronary heart assault on Monday morning.
Ms Rae praised the medical doctors and nurses who handled her husband. I’m clearly heartbroken however I can not converse extremely sufficient of the Icelandic well being service and the medical doctors and nurses who taken care of him,” she mentioned.
“I will never be able to thank them properly for their kindness and their professionalism.”
Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer led tributes to the Blackburn-born peer, who had a eager curiosity within the social gathering’s historical past, co-authoring a e book on the primary 29 Labour MPs elected in 1906. Sir Keir mentioned: “Alan Haworth was a devoted servant of the Labour Party and a diligent pupil of its historical past.”
“Alan worked for the party in both the House of Commons as PLP secretary and then in the House of Lords as a working peer, without fuss or fanfare but with an absolute determination to make life better for working people.
“He played a key role in delivering Labour’s 1997 landslide and ensuring the party was re-elected. Alan will be greatly missed on both the green and red benches in Parliament. My thoughts are with Maggie and all his family and friends at this terrible time.”
Labour’s chief within the House of Lords, Baroness Angela Smith, mentioned: “Alan was Labour to his core with an entertaining, warm-hearted and encyclopaedic knowledge of parliamentary colleagues past and present. He was great company and held the respect and affection of all in the Labour Peers Group.
“I am shocked at this news and will miss him dearly.”
Former Labour prime minister Sir Tony Blair mentioned: “Alan was one of my close friends, a wonderful, warm and witty companion. You never had a dull evening with Alan, and I had many of them. And there was no one whose counsel I found wiser or more perceptive. He and Maggie were fantastic hosts, generous and loving friends.
“Of course Alan was a huge Labour Party stalwart. But the kind that was no nonsense, let’s get elected so we can do instead of talk.
“And in all the years I knew Alan, he never wavered in his belief in, and commitment to, the party. He served it with distinction and true and dedicated loyalty.
“So I will miss him very deeply indeed. On many different levels. In many different ways. It is a sad day for me, Cherie and all our family.”
There will likely be a personal funeral with a memorial celebration deliberate for a future date.