Justin Welby pays tribute to Patrick Cormack, Tory peer and ex-MP, who has died at 84

Tributes have been paid to Patrick Cormack, formerly a long-serving Conservative MP, who has died aged 84.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, described him as a “vivid character” and “unfailingly kind”.

Lord Cormack served as an MP from 1970 to 2010 and was elected 10 times, most recently for the constituency of South Staffordshire from 1997 to 2010. He also served as shadow minister for constitutional affairs and shadow deputy leader of the House of Commons.

After standing down in 2010, he became a life peer in the House of Lords.

Cormack became a freeman of the City of London in 1980 and was knighted in February 1995.

Welby said: “Patrick, Lord Cormack, was a vivid character whose decades of public service were driven by his Christian service.

“As an MP for 40 years from 1970, he was a faithful and dedicated member for his constituency. In 2010 he became a member of the House of Lords.

“His carefully timed and well-judged interventions spoke to his strong Christian faith guiding his values and prompting his interventions.

“Patrick was a traditionalist, an old-fashioned Conservative who in the Lords was willing to criticise his own party when it acted against Christian principles. But he was not tribal.

“He disagreed with many things done by bishops and archbishops, but remained a friend, an adviser and someone to whom we could all turn. He was unfailingly kind and courteous and his and his beloved wife Mary’s home in Lincoln was a place of generous hospitality.

“My prayers are with his wife Mary, sons Charles and Richard and their wider family.”