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Labour peer dies while swimming in river

Charlie Buckland
BBC News
Getty Images British Labour Party politician David Lipsey outside the House of Lords, London. He is waring a grey suit, blue and white striped shirt and blue tie. Getty Images
Labour peer Lord David Lipsey has died while swimming in the River Wye

Labour peer Lord David Lipsey has died while swimming in a river, police have confirmed.

Dyfed-Powys Police said it received a report concerning the safety of a man who was last seen swimming in the River Wye in Glasbury, Powys, on Monday.

After a multi-agency search on 1 July, officers confirmed the body of Lord Lipsey, 77, was recovered.

Police said his next of kin have been informed and have asked for their privacy to be respected.

Lord Lipsey, originally from Dorset, lived in Powys and was a patron of the Glasbury Arts Festival.

In the 1970s, Lord Lipsey served as a special adviser to Labour minister and diarist Anthony Crosland and on the staff at 10 Downing Street under Prime Minister Jim Callaghan, later Lord Callaghan.

Lord Lipsey had previously worked as a journalist for The Sunday Times, New Society and The Economist and co-founded the short-lived Sunday Correspondent in 1988.

He was awarded a life peerage by former PM Tony Blair in 1999, and is credited with coining the phrases "New Labour" and "winter of discontent".

The latter refers to the bitter and intense industrial disputes of the autumn and winter of 1978/9, which saw a wave of crippling strikes across the country - and led to the election of Margaret Thatcher.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer led tributes from the Labour Party, saying the peer "worked tirelessly for what he believed in" and will be "sorely missed" by all who knew him.

Sir Keir said: "David was loved and respected by so many. Whether it was his early years as a researcher and adviser, or his quarter of a century in the House of Lords, he worked tirelessly for what he believed in.

"He will be sorely missed by all who were fortunate to know him, in Parliament and beyond.

"My thoughts are with his wife, Margaret, and their family and friends."

Lord Lipsey was also a fan of greyhound racing, chairing the British Greyhound Racing Board (now called the Greyhound Board of Great Britain) between 2004 and 2009, and worked to get dogs rehomed at the end of their careers.

Lord Speaker John McFall said the upper chamber extended its "condolences to the noble Lord's family and friends".