Hertsmere MP pays tribute to ‘towering figure’ Lord Cecil Parkinson
File photo dated 08/06/01 of the former Conservative Party Chairman Lord Parkinson, whose family has announced his death. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Monday January 25, 2016. Photo credit: Matthew Fearn/PA Wire - Credit: PA
Tributes have been paid by a local politician to former Conservative politician and cabinet minister Lord Cecil Parkinson, who has died of cancer, aged 84.
Hertsmere MP Oliver Dowden, of St Albans, has paid tribute to his predecessor who served the constituency from June 9, 1983, until April 9, 1992.
Mr Dowden said: “I was very sorry to learn that Cecil, Lord Parkinson, has died after a battle with cancer.
“He was a towering figure nationally, playing a central role in the great reforming Thatcher governments of the 1980s, but he was also a brilliant local MP, who served Hertsmere from the constituency’s creation until 1992.”
The politician added: “Time and time again, local residents would recall him with tremendous warmth and fondness, something that I have experienced since I was selected as the Conservative candidate in 2014.
“My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Ann and the rest of his family.”