Former British MP Norman Tebbit dies aged 94

Former British MP Norman Tebbit has died at the age of 94.

He was a member of the Conservative Party and was one of Margaret Thatcher's closest political allies, playing a key role in Tory politics for a generation.

As employment secretary he took on the trade unions, and as chairman of the Conservative Party from 1985 to 1987, he helped Ms Thatcher secure her third general election victory.

He was seriously injured in the 1984 Brighton bombing, which left his wife, Margaret, paralysed.

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In a statement, Mr Tebbit's son William said: "At 11.15pm on 7th 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."

Mr Tebbit entered parliament in 1970 as Conservative MP for Epping, joining the right-wing Monday Club.

When Ms Thatcher became party leader in 1975, he strongly backed her agenda of free market reforms and curbing the power of the unions which had brought down former prime minister Edward Heath's Tory government.

As employment secretary, Mr Tebbit piloted key legislation which diluted the power of the trade union "closed shop" and weakened the unions' immunity from civil damages.

It was following inner city riots in Handsworth and Brixton in 1981 that he made the infamous remark which led to him being dubbed "Onyerbike".

Rejecting suggestions the violence was a natural response 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 till he found it."

His relations with Ms Thatcher did not always run smoothly and he later recalled there were occasions when he left No 10 unsure whether he would still have a job by the time he had returned to his department.

"But I was never frightened of her," he remembered.

"The most she could do was sack me. I didn't see any point in not standing up to her."

Following the Tories' 1983 general election victory, there was a move to trade and industry but his life was turned upside down the following year when an IRA bomb tore through Brighton's Grand Hotel during the Conservative Party conference.

Ms Thatcher, the main intended target of the attack, escaped unscathed but it took four hours for fire crews to rescue Mr Tebbit and his wife from the wreckage.

While Ms Tebbit was left needing round-the-clock care for the rest of her life, he recovered to return to the political fray.

After the 1987 general election, where the Conservatives were again returned with a three-figure majority, Mr Tebbit announced he was leaving government so he could devote more time to looking after his wife, who died in 2020.

He remained politically active however - particularly on Europe - and, after stepping down as an MP in 1992, he was made a life peer.

He was the author of a number of books including The Game Cookbook, which proved to be a surprise hit in 2009.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has paid tribute to Mr Tibbet.

"Norman Tebbit was an icon in British politics and his death will cause sadness across the political spectrum," she said.

"He was one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism and his unstinting service in the pursuit of improving our country should be held up as an inspiration to all Conservatives.

"He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised."