Sir Tony Lloyd, the 73-year-old veteran politician who was MP for Rochdale, was laid to rest at a requiem mass in his honor at St Hugh Of Lincoln RC Church in Stretford. His funeral was attended by mourners from across the political divide, including Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer and former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Sir Tony passed away last month after announcing he had untreatable leukemia. At the time of his death, Sir Keir said that everyone held him in high esteem, while the Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle said that the “country has lost one of the nicest, most effective MPs”.
During the service, Sir Tony’s family asked those present to “continue to hold him in your hearts, as he will forever be in ours.” Sir Tony was a long-time public servant, having been first elected to Parliament in 1983 to represent Stretford. He also served as MP for Manchester Central after changes to constituency boundaries. He stood down from Parliament to become the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner in 2012, before returning for a second stint in the Commons, representing Rochdale from 2017. A by-election will take place at the end of February to elect a new MP.
Labour recently withdrew support for candidate Azhar Ali over comments he had made about the conflict in Gaza and Israel, ahead of the by-election. Sir Tony’s funeral was concluded with the tribute from his family. They thanked everyone for attending and said that the other tributes that had been extended were “testament to the person he was.” Sir Tony’s remains were brought to the church in a wicker coffin, surrounded by lilac and cream flowers. The funeral began with the hymn “Amazing Grace
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