Lord Tebbit, former cabinet minister and loyal lieutenant to Thatcher, dies at 94

Norman Tebbit, the former Conservative cabinet minister and one of Margaret Thatcher's most loyal supporters, has died at the age of 94.

- Jamie Grierson

Tebbit represented the constituencies of Epping and Chingford as an MP for 22 years before receiving a life peerage, making him Lord Tebbit of Chingford. He retired from the House of Lords in 2022.

During his long political career he served as employment secretary, trade and industry secretary, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and chair of the Conservative party.

His death was confirmed by his son, William, who said in a statement: "At 11.15pm on 7 July 2025 Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94. His family ask that their privacy is respected at this time and a further statement regarding funeral arrangements will be made in due course."

Former Conservative prime ministers led tributes to him. Rishi Sunak said Tebbit was a "titan of Conservative politics" whose "resilience, conviction and service left a lasting mark on our party and our country".

David Cameron praised him and said: "They don't make 'em like Norman any more."

He said: "A man of great conviction, profound self-belief and with a direct and sometimes abrasive tone, he generated strong reactions from all sides. I was sometimes on the hard end of that, but there is no doubting the tremendous impact he had on our country and my party.

"A staunch believer in self-reliance, hard work and enterprise, as secretary of state for employment he reformed our outdated and ineffective trade union laws, and thus transformed industrial relations in Britain for good.