Oldest former MP Sir Patrick Duffy dies age 105

The oldest former Member of Parliament, Sir Patrick Duffy, has died aged 105 following a short illness.

The miner’s son, from Doncaster, first stood for parliament in 1950 and held the Sheffield Attercliffe seat for Labour between 1970 and his retirement in 1992.

Sir Patrick died on 2 January at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and a family friend said everyone who knew him, “across all age groups”, would miss his kindness and humour.

Kevin Meagher, who helped him write his second book, called him a “living historical jukebox” and added: “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.”

Sir Patrick was born in Wigan in 1920 before his family moved to Doncaster for work in the South Yorkshire coalfield, where his father, James, was a miner.

He told friends some of his earliest memories were the mining strikes of 1926, and according to the Guardian, he said he was a “political animal” from the age of five.

Sir Patrick went on to serve in the Fleet Air Arm during World War Two and survived a terrible crash at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands – he was even read his last rites twice age 23 but went on to fly again.

The crash also left him with severe facial injuries which required him to undergo experimental plastic surgery.

After the war, Sir Patrick studied at the London School of Economics before taking a doctorate at Columbia University in New York and went on to become an economics lecturer at Leeds University.

He first stood for Parliament in 1950 in Tiverton, Devon, and then successfully contested Colne Valley, West Yorkshire, in a by-election in 1963.

He was a defence minister in James Callaghan’s Labour government in the late 1970s and president of the NATO Assembly in the 1980s, working alongside many heads of state as the Cold War came to an end, including Pope John Paul II.

In later life, Sir Patrick went on to hold a number of academic positions and remained a respected voice in the field of naval warfare.

A committed Catholic, he received his papal knighthood in 2017 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991.

After retiring from Parliament, he undertook several pilgrimages including the famous Camino de Santiago, a 35-day walk of 15.5 miles (25km) each day, which he completed annually for six years.

Mr Meagher also said: “He could remember, you know, Oswald Mosley speaking in Wigan in 1930 and then pretty much everything in almost total recall on events from that point onwards, really – incredible mental acuity, even into a very old age.”

Sir Patrick published his second book, From Wigan to Westminster: Hot Wars, Cold Wars and the Carrier Strike Groups, aged 103, making him the second-oldest published author in the world.

Paying tribute, Sally Jameson, MP for Doncaster Central, said: “I am deeply saddened to hear that Sir Patrick Duffy has died.

“He was loved in Doncaster and will be very much missed and my condolences go to all his family and friends.”

Mr Meagher added: “He will be greatly missed. God rest his soul.”

Sir Patrick lived with his three beloved dogs in Doncaster near the colliery where his father worked and is survived by his sister Patricia.