07.11.11
New Labour strategies Philip Gould dies
New Labour architect Philip Gould, a top strategist and “indispensable” aid to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, died yesterday from cancer.
Lord Gould, who was 61, died at London’s Royal Marsden hospital with his family at his side.
Labour leader Ed Miliband called him an “exceptional man” and a “pathbreaking political strategist”, adding: “His friends will also remember an extraordinary human being: warm, funny, engaging, deeply emotional and loving to all those he knew. Nowhere was he more extraordinary than in the final years of his life: battling his cancer like a political campaign that could be mastered and won, then accepting death with courage and bravery.
Blair said: “Philip was such a huge part of the renaissance of the Labour party. To me he was my guide and mentor, a wise head, a brilliant mind and a total rock when a storm was raging.
“He became indispensable. He was always a constant advocate for the British people, their hopes and anxieties. So his political contribution was immense.
“I feel very proud and privileged to have known him and to have been his friend.
“But then as his illness gripped him, he became something more. In facing death, he grew emotionally and spiritually into this remarkable witness to life’s meaning and purpose.”
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