Tributes paid as former MEP Patrick O'Flynn dies

Tributes have been paid to the journalist and former UKIP Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Patrick O'Flynn, who has died aged 59.

O'Flynn, from Cambridge, served as an MEP for the East of England from 2014 until 2019.

He previously worked as the political editor at the Daily Express and Birmingham Post, and had also written for The Spectator.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson said O'Flynn was "a truly original conservative journalist who grasped the causes of much of the current discontent".

Nigel Farage, the former UKIP leader and current leader of Reform UK, said: "Paddy was a great journalist, a great thinker, a great patriot and a titan of our joint cause."

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party and MP for North West Essex, said: "I can't quite believe it. My husband and I always enjoyed Patrick's company.

"He often messaged me with thoughts on politics. We'd agree on substance then argue over tactics. I teased him about being a secret leftie… but my goodness, he loved this country."

O'Flynn was elected as an MEP when UKIP beat Labour and the Conservatives into second and third place in the 2014 European Parliament election.

He served as UKIP's economy spokesman until 2015 and also stood as a parliamentary candidate in the former Cambridge constituency in the general election that year.

He also held the party's media and sport brief, before quitting in 2018 to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

In a post on X, the SDP said it was "devastated" to learn of O'Flynn's passing, describing him as "a great journalist, fantastic MEP, true patriot, and most of all a wonderful man".

The former MP Lord Jackson of Peterborough knew Mr O'Flynn well, first as a journalist and then an MEP and worked closely with him during the Brexit referendum.

He described O'Flynn as being "a wonderfully moderate, smart, analytical and decent guy".

He said: "He was very kind and very proud of his home town of Cambridge.

"We talked about a lot of things outside politics including his love of the group The Jam, which was his passion.

"He was quite courageous to give up a successful career in journalism to dip his feet into the shark infested waters of politics."

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