The leaders who were taken before their time

The face of British politics was irrevocably changed yesterday by the death of the Labour leader, John Smith.

With successful council elections behind his party, more gains expected in next month’s European elections and a 20-point poll lead, Downing Street had been beckoning for Mr Smith.

His death from a massive heart attack at the age of 55 encountered an extraordinary response, with moving tributes from across the political spectrum and many Labour MPS openly in tears.

The Commons adjourned for the day, as did the Lords, and, in a rare mark of respect for a political opponent, the Scottish Conservative conference at Inverness was suspended until this morning.

Mr Smith, whose personal morality and pride in being Scottish formed a central part of his political make-up, was described in an inspired tribute by the Prime Minister, John Major, in a packed Commons as “an opponent, not an enemy.”

At the Tory conference, the Scottish Secretary, Ian Lang, looked shaken and was close to tears.

“Can I say that I have known John Smith throughout my parliamentary career, and I regarded him as a fine parliamentarian, a fair, decent and good man, a great patriot, a man who loved Scotland, loved democracy,” he said.

Mr Smith’s confidence, integrity and centre-right background, combined with a series of setbacks for the Government, saw Labour move into a commanding position under his leadership.

But the party faces a problem of finding a replacement who will be as appealing to the electorate. A bitter leadership contest would see Labour slip in the polls.

Labour’s deputy, Margaret Beckett, takes over as leader temporarily. The frontrunner to replace Mr Smith is Tony Blair, one of the advocates of modernisation, although his candidature would be opposed by some unions and by the Left.

Other possible candidates are John Prescott, Gordon Brown, Robin Cook and Jack Cunningham.

Mr Blair, the shadow home secretary, who was in Aberdeen, fought back tears as he paid tribute to Mr Smith but refused point-blank to be drawn on the likelihood of succeeding him, saying: “I do not think this is the time.”

The leading figures in the party are to meet to decide whether to hold a contest soon or to wait until the party conference in October, or even whether it is possible to find a leader without a contest.

Campaigning in the European elections has been suspended until after the funeral.

Mr Smith, who took up hillwalking and cut down on drink and rich food after a heart attack six years ago, collapsed at 8:05am at his flat in the Barbican, where many MPS live when in London.

His wife Elizabeth called for an ambulance while attempts were made to revive him. The ambulance arrived at 8:15am to take him the short distance to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where he was admitted to the resuscitation unit.

Mr Smith never regained consciousness and he died at 9:15am.

The news of his death was held back at the family’s request to allow Mrs Smith to contact her daughter Sarah, who was working in America.

Mr Smith’s last public engagement had been a fund-raising dinner in London on Wednesday night.

A Labour colleague said that, although Mr Smith had not been drinking, he had slurred some of his words during the speech and, with hindsight, that might have been an early indication that a heart attack was imminent.

A by-election will have to be held in his Monklands East constituency. He is the fifth Labour MP to die this year. Tributes came from the Queen and overseas but the most moving were in the Commons. Mr Major, in an emotional eulogy, described him as “one of the outstanding parliamentarians of modern politics … a fair-minded but tough fighter for what he believed in.”

Praising his “formidable skills”, Mr Major said: “Even for those against whom those skills were deployed, it is hard to bear that we will never see or hear those skills in this House again.”

The Liberal Democrat leader, Paddy Ashdown, said: “We have lost today one of the foremost parliamentary talents of our time, a powerful advocate for the politics of progress in Britain and a thoroughly decent and deeply gifted man.”

All that was missing was a recognition of how important Mr Smith’s Scottish background had been to him.

Menzies Campbell, the Lib Dem MP for North-east Fife and a fellow member of the Scottish legal profession, provided it, saying Mr Smith had all the virtues of presbyterianism and none of the vices.

The Scottish National Party leader, Alex Salmond, said: “In the Seventies, he was one of the few Westminster politicians genuinely committed to the cause of Scottish devolution … he led his party with great distinction.”

Mr Smith, who was born in Argyll, was educated at Dunoon and then Glasgow University, where he sharpened his debating skills and became close friends with his fellow member of the shadow cabinet, Donald Dewar.

In the early part of his political career he combined Westminster with a legal career that saw him rise to become a QC.

In 1961 he failed to become the MP for East Fife, but in 1970 took North Lanarkshire and joined the Cabinet as its youngest member in 1978.

He was given responsibility for drawing up and steering the Scottish Devolution Bill through the Commons.