Sir Bernard Ingham, the long-serving press secretary for Margaret Thatcher, has died aged 90.
The renowned former civil servant, who was also press secretary to respected Labour MP Tony Benn, passed away after a short illness, his family said.
He served under Mrs Thatcher between 1979 and 1990, and was knighted in her resignation honours.
He was a Fleet Street journalist with The Guardian before becoming a Government press officer, and served as Mrs Thatcher’s press secretary for all but the first few months of her premiership.
After leaving Downing Street, he wrote his memoirs, Kill The Messenger, and worked as a political pundit, an after-dinner speaker, a cruise lecturer and a newspaper columnist.
His family said ‘he was a journalist to his bones’, starting out aged 16 on his local paper in West Yorkshire, The Hebden Bridge Times, and he was still filing weekly columns to Express Online and The Yorkshire Post until a few days before he died.
Sir Bernard Ingham, left, was Mrs Thatcher’s press secretary for all of her time as Prime Minister, from 1979 until 1990. Above: Sir Bernard with Mrs Thatcher and her husband Dennis in 1998
His son John Ingham 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.’
Tributes have started to pour in for Sir Bernard, with former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor saying: ‘I am saddened to hear of the death of Sir Bernard Ingham. He was a formidable communicator & political operator.’
Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns hailed Sir Bernard as a ‘servant of a lost age’, tweeting: ‘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. RIP.’
Although employed as a politically-neutral civil servant, Sir Bernard proved to be a controversial figure.
In 2016 is sparked outraged by refusing to apologise after describing Liverpool fans as ‘tanked up yobs’ – blaming them for the Hillsborough disaster.
Sir Bernard penned a letter in 1996 in which he tried to dissuade Hillsborough campaigners from taking action, claiming it would do Liverpool ‘no good whatsoever’ in the ‘eyes of the nation’.
Sir Bernard served under Mrs Thatcher between 1979 and 1990, and was knighted in her resignation honours
Sir Bernard (pictured at Mrs Thatcher’s funeral in 2013) was hailed as a ‘journalist to his bones’ by his son in a post on social media
He added the disaster had only unfolded due to ‘tanked up yobs’ who tried to ‘force their way in the ground’ before saying Liverpool should ‘shut up about Hillsborough’.
In a second letter to campaigners which was unearthed today, he accused Liverpool fans of being unable to face the ‘uncomfortable truth’ of the ‘real cause’ of the tragedy.
But, despite fans being exonerated of any blame, Sir Bernard refused to apologise for his comments.
After the long-awaited verdict, which placed the blame squarely with South Yorkshire Police, he told a Daily Mirror reporter: ‘I have nothing to say.’
Sir Bernard has previously defended his comments by claiming that he and Thatcher, who was then Prime Minister, were briefed by officers who apparently told them fans were to blame.
When he was confronted by the Liverpool Echo in 2013, Sir Bernard admitted he had not taken the time to read the Hillsborough Independent Panel report and that he had formed his own view from media reports.
In the first letter, sent to Liverpool fan Graham Skinner – whose friend had died in the disaster – Sir Bernard said the city should ‘shut up about Hillsborough’.
Earlier, in 1999, Sir Bernard found himself in court following a long-running feud with his neighbour.
Lady Nancy Ingham and Sir Bernard Ingham arriving at Croydon Magistrates’ Court in 1999 after Sir Bernard’s long-running feud with a neighbour
Former Prime Minister, Baroness Thatcher, Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, confers an honorary degree on her former press secretary, Sir Bernard Ingham, at a special graduation ceremony
Sir Bernard worked with the Guardian before becoming a Government press officer but positioned himself as a bitter enemy of ‘spin’, criticising those who practised the ‘black art’
He appeared before Croydon magistrates accused of causing criminal damage to a Mercedes car owned by Linda Cripps, a neighbour, in Purley, south London.
The charges were dropped when he accepted he would be bound over for 12 months in the sum of £1,000 to keep the peace.
Born on June 21 1932 and educated at Hebden Bridge Grammar School, Sir Bernard started his career in journalism aged 16 on his local paper in West Yorkshire.
He worked with the Guardian before becoming a Government press officer but positioned himself as a bitter enemy of ‘spin’, criticising those who practised the ‘black art’.
Sir Bernard would handle the media as Lady Thatcher’s press secretary for all but the first few months of her premiership.
He was knighted in her resignation honours and wrote a book, Kill The Messenger, about his life in No 10.
Sir Bernard was married to Nancy Ingham, a former policewoman, for 60 years. She died in 2017. He leaves a son, two grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
John Ingham thanked his father’s nursing home, Tupwood Gate in Caterham, Surrey, and his previous in-home carers for their ‘wonderful care and support’.
