Parliamentarians have this week paid tribute to Labour MP Jack Dromey, with a minute’s silence observed in the House of Commons on Monday.
It comes after the MP for Birmingham Erdington and shadow minister for immigration passed away suddenly on Friday [January 7] at his constituency flat.
As Commons business got underway on Monday this week, speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle led the House in paying tribute to their departed colleague, saying: “I know honourable members in all parts of the House will join me in mourning the loss of our colleague and extending our sympathy to the honourable member's family and friends.
“We are all in disbelief that the life-force that was Jack Dromey has died – this is another sad day for the House and a bad start to the year.
“I have known Jack since the mid-1980s when we fought to save the Royal Ordnance Factory in Chorley - he was national officer for the Transport and General Workers’ Union, and I was chair of economic development at Chorley Council. He was a great guy, down to earth, always positive and always looking to support and save jobs.
“At his heart he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather - so all our thoughts go to [his wife] Harriet [Harman] and the rest of the family at this very sad time.”
Sir Lindsay informed MPs that a more formal event would be arranged in the near future to enable well-wishers to pay their respects to the father-of-three, which would be agreed in consultation with his family.
Dromey had served as the Birmingham Erdington MP since 2010 and is understood to have died from natural causes.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace told the Commons that he would “remember Jack with his trademark mac that he often wore and never changed, and also his well-crafted arguments, often against the government, but nevertheless making a strong, often powerful point.”
John Healey, Labour shadow defence secretary, said that Dromey had “touched everyone he worked with” and that UK politics would be left “poorer without him”.
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
