Heseltine and Tebbit lead tributes to Lord Weatherill

BBC: "Although Lord Weatherill was a Tory MP, in the Lords he was convenor of the crossbench peers and his father was a member of the Independent Labour Party.  Tributes were being paid to him on Monday from across the political spectrum.  Lord Heseltine, the former Tory deputy prime minister, said: "He was a popular Speaker and a good one."  Lord Tebbit, the Tory peer and former party chairman, described him as "one of life's gentlemen".  Former Labour MP Tam Dalyell, an ex-Father of the House of Commons, said: "Albeit he once called me 'the platoon sergeant of the awkward squad', I rated him in the very highest league of Speakers, partly because he resisted pressure from Margaret Thatcher, and was fair to those with dissenting opinions. He was superb in being host to people from developing countries, particularly Asians as he spoke Urdu.""

Comments

[Richard Tyndall]

A sad loss. A very good speaker and an exceptionally honest man.

It is a shame that the BBC in its obituary chooses to ignore his opposition to the EU and his post as Patron of 'Better Off Out'

[michael mcgough]

Another truly great parliamentarian is sadly lost.

[Teesbridge]

Puts Gorbals Mick into stark perspective.

[Robert Winterton]

A man who I was lucky to meet, and who I can say from personal experience was so kind, a real gentleman. He was a true Parliamentarian, so sadly lacking in the current generation. It is such a shame that the current incumbent can in no way be compared to his predecessors, a reflection of how 'Westminster' has been diminished under the current administration.

[Robert Winterton]

A man who I was lucky to meet, and who I can say from personal experience was so kind, a real gentleman. He was a true Parliamentarian, so sadly lacking in the current generation. It is such a shame that the current incumbent can in no way be compared to his predecessors, a reflection of how 'Westminster' has been diminished under the current administration.

[malcolm]

An excellent Speaker and a very decent man. He could have been a real thorn in the side of the current leadership with his espousing of the Better Of Out cause.All credit to him for not doing so.
His handling of the role of speaker provides an object lesson in how to do the job for Michael Martin. When I look at Martin I realise how much I miss Lord Weatherill.

[Richard Weatherill]

A very sad loss. Bernard Weatherill was not a blood relation of mine, but my mother once wrote to him (during his time as Speaker) to enquire whether he might be related to my step-grandfather, to whom he bore a strong physical resemblance. Rather than the brief response that we might reasonably have expected, Lord Weatherill was kind enough to reply at length, describing in some detail his family's connections with the East Riding. I suspect that this was probably typical of the considerate way in which he dealt with day-to-day constituency correspondence and the like.

As Speaker, his complete lack of flamboyance and clear even-handedness were great assets.