SIR Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher’s long-serving press secretary, died today aged 90 following a short illness.
Tributes poured in for the “formidable operator” who was by the Iron Lady’s side for her 11 years in power.
Sir Bernard Ingham at home in Surrey
Margaret Thatcher and Sir Bernard Ingham
Son John hailed him “a great dad” and said he passed away with his family by his side this lunchtime.
He said: “To the wider world he is known as Margaret Thatcher’s chief press secretary, a formidable operator in the political and Whitehall jungles.
“But to me he was my dad – and a great dad at that. He was a fellow football fan and an adoring grandfather and great grandfather. My family will miss him greatly.”
Sir Bernard was married for 60 years to Nancy Ingham, a former policewoman, who died in 2017.
He leaves a son, two grandchildren and a great grandchild.
Sir Bernard, a former journalist, was one of Mrs Thatcher’s most loyal aides during her three terms as PM.
After she left office in 1990 he continued to be politically engaged, writing a regular column for the Yorkshire Post.
Recently he slammed unions for waging a Marxist class war, drawing parallels with the battle with barons in the 1980s.
Sir Bernard dealt with the press during Mrs Thatcher’s tumultuous premiership that saw industrial strife and war abroad.
In a recent documentary he said his proudest achievement was flying the PM to Port Stanley shortly after the Falklands War without journalists getting a whiff.
Tory MP Conor Burns, a friend of the late Lady Thatcher, said: “Very sorry to learn of the death of Sir Bernard Ingham. He was the great communicator in an age when politicians had great and big things to communicate.
“He also knew that he was not the story but the vessel to carry it. A servant of a lost age. And a lovely man.”
Sir Bernard with Sun columnist Trevor Kavanagh
Did you miss our previous article…
https://hellofaread.com/politics/train-strikes-cancelled-after-tssa-union-members-accept-pay-rise/
