TRIBUTES have been paid to the Labour politician and peer, anti-poverty campaigner, and influential churchman, Frank Field, who has died, aged 81.
An announcement from Lord Field’s office, issued on Wednesday morning, said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Frank Field, Lord Field of Birkenhead. Through a protracted battle with cancer, Frank Field remained resilient and engaged with life until the top. He will probably be enormously missed by his family and wide circle of friends.
“Frank was a rare individual who spent his life fighting poverty, injustice, and environmental destruction. His decency and faith in people’s self-interested altruism made a singular contribution to British politics. After forty years of dedicated public service, Frank will probably be mourned by admirers across the political divide. But above all, he will probably be deeply missed by those lucky enough to have enjoyed his laughter and friendship.”
Lord Field was the MP for Birkenhead for 40 years. In 2018, he resigned the Labour Party whip due to what he called the party’s “toleration of anti-Semitism” and a “culture of nastiness, bullying, and intimidation” (News, 31 August 2018). He left the House of Commons after the 2019 General Election, and entered the House of Lords in 2020.
Before entering Parliament in 1979, he had worked for ten years as director of the Child Poverty Action Group. He also served as a member of the General Synod, and chaired the Cathedrals Fabric Commission and the Churches Conservation Trust.
Broken Rites, a support group for divorced and separated clergy spouses and partners, was founded after Lord Field, in 1983, invited people to put in writing to him to inform of their experiences (News, 23 June 2023).
The Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Revd Julie Conalty, expressed her on the news of Lord Field’s death, but said that his had been “such an inspiring life well-lived. He leaves a legacy of anti-poverty community projects in Birkenhead; the tragedy is that they’re needed now greater than ever.”
The Bishop of Chester, the Rt Revd Mark Tanner, described Lord Field as “a courageous servant of so many on this area and across the nation, and an example to lots of public service. His family and friends are in my prayers.”
The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, said that Lord Field’s death was “a profound loss to politics and to our nation. Frank dedicated his life to being a voice for probably the most vulnerable and marginalised people within the country”.
The Shadow Faith Minister, Baroness Sherlock, wrote on social media: “Giving thanks for the lifetime of a politician who never stopped being outraged by the prevalence of kid poverty in a wealthy country.”
Sir Tony Blair, in whose Government Lord Field served as Welfare Minister, from 1997 to 1998, described him as having “integrity, intelligence, and deep commitment to the causes he believed in. He was an independent thinker never constrained by conventional wisdom, but at all times pushing on the frontier of latest ideas. Even once we disagreed, I had the utmost respect for him as a colleague and a personality.”
The Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said that Lord Field “was neither cowed by the establishment or whips — which made his campaigns against hunger and food poverty, for climate change and the Church, even simpler.
“He was the driving force behind Parliament’s commitment to forestall slavery and human trafficking inside our supply chains. Having worked with him on the modern-slavery advisory group, and made him its chair, I’m in little doubt his efforts saved many lives nationwide from this shameful criminal activity.”
The chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, Alison Garnham, described Lord Field as “a steadfast, highly successful and diligent campaigner against child poverty. It is basically right down to Frank that we have now child profit today — a really towering achievement. He gained support and respect from across the political spectrum and defined the concept of the ‘poverty trap’ — now commonly used to explain the difficulties for working people of improving off while claiming means-tested advantages due to the high rate at which advantages are withdrawn as earnings rise.
“As CPAG director, Frank also helped pave the best way for the minimum wage, free school meals and rent allowances for low-income families, all fundamental social protections. Frank was a real champion for kids and low-income families and with child poverty at a record high today, families need his like as never before.”
Obituary to follow
