STORY
Sir Patrick Duffy, believed to be the UK’s oldest former Member of Parliament, has died aged 105 after a short illness, tributes have said. A family friend said he died on 2 January 2026 at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and would be remembered for his kindness and humour.
Born in Wigan in 1920, the son of a miner, Duffy’s family moved to Doncaster for work in the South Yorkshire coalfield. He served with the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War and later pursued an academic career, studying at the London School of Economics and completing a doctorate at Columbia University before lecturing in economics.
After first standing for Parliament in 1950, he entered the Commons at a 1963 by-election in Colne Valley, later becoming Labour MP for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1970 until his retirement in 1992. In government he served as a defence minister under James Callaghan in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s he went on to become president of the NATO Assembly, a role that took him into the heart of Cold War era diplomacy.