Guardian journalist and 'social policy king' Malcolm Dean dies

Malcolm Dean, who created the Guardian's legendary Society section and wrote widely on topics from social care and poverty to criminal justice and the NHS, has died at 86 after a long illness.

- Patrick Butler

He spent 37 years at the Guardian as a reporter, social policy columnist and member of the paper's governing body, the Scott Trust, between 1969 and 2006, before moving into academic research, and sitting on working parties and commissions.

David McKie, a former deputy editor of the Guardian and contemporary of Dean, described him as a "social policy king" who was not only immensely knowledgeable about his subject, but passionate about the real-life impact of policy.