Former Labour minister and crossbench peer Frank Field has died aged 81 following a two-year battle with terminal cancer.
The veteran politician who served as an MP for Birkenhead for 40 years and as the minister of reform under Tony Blair’s government was well respected across the parliament benches.
After serving as an MP from 1979 to 2019, he joined the House of Lords in 2020.
A statement from Lord Field of Birkenhead’s family, issued by his Parliamentary officem, read: ‘Frank Field has died at the age of 81 following a period of illness.
‘Frank is survived by two brothers.’
In October 2021, it was revealed in the House of Lords that veteran politician has recently spent time in a hospice and that he was not well enough to attend debates.
Throughout his career, Lord Field built a reputation an one of the most effective backbenchers with curbs on EU immigration and campaigns against poverty.
In 208, he quit the Labour whip in Parliament after a row with then leader Jeremy Corbyn, who he said was’ a force for anti-Semitism in British politics.
The Conservatives made him a non-affiliated crossbench peer by the Conservative government in 2020 after he campaigned in favour of Brexit.
