Ken Purchase

Ken Purchase, who has died aged 77, was a conscientious Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East from 1992 to 2010, and PPS to Robin Cook throughout his Cabinet career.

Slightly to the Left of the party, Purchase resigned with his boss in 2003 over the invasion of Iraq, but otherwise supported Tony Blair and later Gordon Brown.

A powerful debater distinguishable by his light ginger hair, the jazz-loving Purchase supported closer European integration, tougher anti-terrorism and asylum laws and further reform of the Lords.

Purchase was proud to be part of Wolverhampton’s successful bid for city status to commemorate the Millennium. He worked hard for the disadvantaged in the community where he had grown up. His constituency chairman said: “If he went to do the weekly shop with his wife at the local supermarket it could take four or five hours, because he always had time to spend listening to people.”

His work on trade and industry threw him together with Robin Cook, who appreciated his fellow redhead’s grasp of the issues, appetite for work and easy relationship with other MPs. Born January 8 1939, died August 28 2016