Speaker's announcement on the death of Sir Gerald Kaufman MP
27 February 2017 (updated on 27 February 2017)
The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP, made an announcement on the death of Sir Gerald Kaufman, Labour MP for Manchester, Gorton.
Sir Gerald had been a Member of Parliament since June 1970 and as the longest serving MP became the Father of the House after the 2015 General Election.
The Speaker told Members in the House of Commons Chamber:
"It is with great sadness that I have to report to the House, the death of the Rt Hon Sir Gerald Kaufman, Labour Member of Parliament for Manchester Gorton. He will be sorely missed by his relatives, his friends, by his constituents and by his Parliamentary colleagues. Not to mention very large numbers of people across this country and around the world.
Before Gerald entered Parliament and after leaving Leeds Grammar school and Oxford University, Gerald worked as Assistant General-Secretary of the Fabian Society and subsequently as a journalist on the Daily Mirror and for the New Statesman.
Thereafter he was the Parliamentary press liaison officer for the Labour Party, working closely with Harold Wilson.
He entered this House, as colleagues will know, in June 1970, as the Member of Parliament for Manchester, Ardwick, which he represented until 1983, and thereafter, following boundary changes, he represented Manchester Gorton from 1983 without interruption.
He was as we know the Father of the House, he served in this place diligently, with principle and with utter dedication for well over 46 years..."
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