UK’s longest living former Labour MP and defense minister, Sir Patrick Duffy has been reported dead following a brief illness at the age of 105.
According to a confirmation by a family friend, Kevin Meagher, the former MP died on January 2.
In his political career, Duffy ran for parliament in 1950 and got elected MP in 1963 following his win at the Colne Valley by-election, before serving as the representative for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1970 until he retired in 1992.
Born in wigan in 1920, the war veteran served as parliamentary under-secretary for the State for Defence for James Callaghan’s Labour government in the late 1970s.
Duffy was also opposition spokesman on defence in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1991, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and in 2017 received a papal knighthood from Pope John Paul II.
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According to a statement written by Meagher, and approved by Duffy’s family, the deceased was described as: “An extraordinary man with a lifetime of accomplishments, Patrick leaves behind him family and friends – across all age groups – who will miss his kindness, humour and incredible acuity in recalling personalities and events from a century ago.
“Patrick’s was a life well-lived, brimming with achievement, the admiration of colleagues and the love and affection of his many family and friends.”
The author and political commentator also noted that the deceased worked in a pre-internet and pre-computer era, using a typewriter or pen to write his books, including From Wigan to Westminster: Hot Wars, Cold Wars and the Carrier Strike Group, which examined his political career and contemporary issues.
“He will be greatly missed,” he said.
Duffy is said to have survived a plane crash in the Orkney Islands during the Second World War, while serving in the Fleet Air Arm.
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