Glenys Kinnock dies as tributes paid to MEP and ex-Labour chief Neil’s spouse

Baroness Glenys Kinnock, a former minister, MEP and spouse of ex-Labour chief Lord Kinnock, died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, her household stated immediately.

The former instructor, 79, served as an MEP for Wales between 1994 and 2009, and was made a peer in 2009 to permit her to turn out to be a minister in Gordon Brown’s Government. She was married to the previous Labour chief Neil Kinnock for 56 years and her son Stephen Kinnock is the Labour MP for Aberavon.

Her household stated they have been “devastated” by her passing, which comes six years after she was identified with Alzheimer’s illness. Despite her sickness, she sustained “her merriment and endless capacity for love,” they stated.

In a press release, the Kinnock household stated: “It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the death of Glenys Kinnock. Glenys died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of Sunday morning, at home in London.

“She was the beloved wife and life partner of Neil, the cherished mother of Steve and Rachel and an adored grandmother. Neil was with her in her final moments. They had been married for 56 years.

“A proud democratic socialist, she campaigned, in Britain and internationally, for justice and in opposition to poverty all her life.”

Baroness Kinnock was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2017. Her children Stephen and Rachel described the “agony” of watching her deteriorate in an article for the Sunday Times last year. “She’s gone, however she’s standing proper there,” they said.

Her family said today: “Glenys endured Alzheimer’s after being identified in 2017 and, so long as she may, sustained her merriment and infinite capability for love, by no means complaining and with the innate braveness with which she had confronted each problem all through her life. The household is in fact devastated and and would ask that their privateness be revered.”

Labour chief Keir Starmer led tributes to a “true fighter for the Labour Party“. He stated: “Glenys was a passionate lifelong campaigner for social justice at home and abroad. She supported Neil through his leadership and went on to have an impressive political career of her own as a member of the European Parliament, in the House of Lords and as a minister in the last Labour government, focused on Europe and Africa.

“Neil and Glenys had essentially the most great partnership, there for one another by means of thick and skinny, with a love and dedication that was immediately apparent if you noticed them collectively. As the household have detailed, lately that meant taking care of Glenys as Alzheimer’s did its worst.

“But what we will all remember is Glenys as a true fighter for the Labour Party and the values of the labour movement, a pioneering woman, to whom we owe an enormous debt. My sincere condolences to Neil, Stephen, Rachel and all the family at this sad time.”

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