Michael Foot

It was with great sadness that I learned about the death of Michael Foot today. He was one of the first politicians I can remember in my formative years. What I found out later was much more about a man passionate in his beliefs, true to them, and tireless in his campaigning. Whilst his politics are different to mine, he was a man of powerful argument and conviction. All of us standing in this General Election can learn lessons from his example. To hear some of his speeches played back today, you wonder whether the next Parliament will have many speakers who could silence the commons, or bring the place down with laughter in the way that he could. To this 'inveterate peacemonger' (as he described himself), goodbye and thank you.