Tributes have been paid to Lord Field of Birkenhead, the former Labour minister and crossbench peer, who has died at the age of 81.
A statement from Field’s family, issued by his parliamentary office, said that the former minister had died following “a period of illness”.
Field revealed in January last year that he had been suffering from prostate cancer for ten years and that the cancer had spread to his jaw. At the time, he remarked: “It’s a strange experience taking so long to die.”
• Frank Field obituary: free spirit devoted to helping the poor
Speaking to The Times after the release of his memoir last year, Field said: “I’ve already decided my headstone, which is Frank Field and my MP membership of 40 years for Birkenhead. But I’d like to be remembered as someone that tried to tell the truth.”
During his four-decade parliamentary career, Field was once asked by Tony Blair to “think the unthinkable” as they attempted to reform the welfare system in 1997.
Paying tribute to Field on Wednesday, his family said: “Frank was director of the Child Poverty Action Group between 1969 and 1979, and the member of parliament for Birkenhead between 1979 and 2019.
“During that time, he served as a minister for welfare reform and led the Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances. He also chaired the House of Commons work and pensions select committee (and its predecessor committee on social services and social security) as well as the joint committee on the Draft Modern Slavery Bill.
“In 2020, Frank entered the House of Lords as the Rt Hon the Lord Field of Birkenhead, was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2022 new year honours and continued to serve on the boards of Cool Earth, Feeding Britain and the Frank Field Education Trust.
“Frank is survived by two brothers. He will be mourned by admirers across politics but above all he will be greatly missed by those lucky enough to have enjoyed his laughter and friendship.”
Despite his Christian faith, he announced in 2021 that he had changed his mind on assisted dying and supported the policy.
Blair, the former prime minister, was among those to pay tribute to Field on Wednesday.
He said: “Frank had integrity, intelligence and deep commitment to the causes he believed in. He was an independent thinker never constrained by conventional wisdom, but always pushing at the frontier of new ideas. Even when we disagreed, I had the utmost respect for him as a colleague and a character.
“Whether in his work on child poverty or in his time devoted to the reform of our welfare system, he stood up and stood out for the passion and insight he brought to any subject. My condolences to his family and his many friends across the spectrum of politics.”
