Roy Hattersley, former Labour deputy leader, dies aged 93

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Roy Hattersley, who served as deputy leader of the Labour Party under Neil Kinnock, has died at the age of 93.

The Sheffield-born politician entered parliament in 1964 as the MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook, a post he held for more than three decades.

He was the party’s deputy leader in opposition for nine years following after its historic defeat to Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives in 1983.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Lord Hattersley “was a giant of the Labour movement”.

“Through decades of service, including as deputy leader and a minister, he never lost his belief in a more equal Britain.

“My thoughts are with his wife Maggie and his family.”

Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell said Lord Hattersley had “shaped the Labour Party and British politics”.

“He was a giant of our movement and of that generation of politicians.”

She said he had been “kind, thoughtful and full of sound advice”.

New Labour strategist Alistair Campbell described him as “Labour through and through” and “a loyal and hard working deputy to Neil at a vital time in Labour history”.

He was made a life peer as Baron Hattersley of Sparkbrook after leaving the Commons in 1997.