Former British MP Norman Tebbit has passed away at 94 years old.
A member of the Conservative Party, he was one of Margaret Thatcher’s closest political allies, playing a significant role in Tory politics for decades.
As employment secretary, he challenged the trade unions, and during his tenure as chairman of the Conservative Party from 1985 to 1987, he assisted Ms. Thatcher in securing her third general election victory.
He suffered severe injuries in the 1984 Brighton bombing, which left his wife, Margaret, paralyzed.
In a statement, Mr. Tebbit’s son William said: “At 11:15 PM on July 7, 2025, Lord Tebbit passed away peacefully at home at the age of 94.”
“The family requests that their privacy be respected during this time, and a further announcement regarding funeral arrangements will be made in due course.”
Mr. Tebbit entered Parliament in 1970 as the Conservative MP for Epping, joining the right-wing Monday Club.
When Ms. Thatcher became party leader in 1975, he strongly supported her agenda of free-market reforms and limiting the power of the unions that had led to the downfall of former Prime Minister Edward Heath’s Tory government.
As employment secretary, Mr. Tebbit spearheaded key legislation that reduced the power of the trade union “closed shop” and weakened the unions’ immunity from civil damages.
Following inner-city riots in Handsworth and Brixton in 1981, he made the notorious comment that earned him the nickname “Onyerbike.”
Rejecting claims that the violence was a natural reaction to rising unemployment, he retorted: “I grew up in the Thirties with an unemployed father. He didn’t riot. He got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking until he found it.”
His relationship with Ms. Thatcher was not always smooth, and he later recounted moments when he left No. 10 unsure if he would still have a job upon returning to his department.
“But I was never afraid of her,” he recalled.
“The most she could do was sack me. I didn’t see any point in not standing up to her.”
After the Conservatives’ 1983 general election victory, he was moved to trade and industry, but his life was dramatically altered the following year when an IRA bomb exploded at Brighton’s Grand Hotel during the Conservative Party conference.
Ms. Thatcher, the primary target of the attack, escaped unharmed, but it took four hours for rescuers to extract Mr. Tebbit and his wife from the debris.
While Ms. Tebbit required round-the-clock care for the rest of her life, he recovered and returned to political life.
After the 1987 general election, where the Conservatives achieved another three-figure majority, Mr. Tebbit announced his departure from government to dedicate more time to caring for his wife, who died in 2020.
He remained active in politics, particularly regarding Europe, and after stepping down as an MP in 1992, he was made a life peer.
He authored several books, including “The Game Cookbook,” which surprisingly became a hit in 2009.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has paid tribute to Mr. Tebbit.
“Norman Tebbit was an icon in British politics, and his death will evoke sadness across the political spectrum,” she said.
“He was a leading proponent of the philosophy we know as Thatcherism, and his unwavering service in the pursuit of improving our country should be an inspiration to all Conservatives.”
“He never yielded to pressure and never compromised.”
