Political journalists and senior politicians have expressed shock at the sudden death of former Daily Express political editor and Member of the European Parliament Patrick O’Flynn, aged 59.
He was a prolific commentator for the Express titles and other publications and a loyal supporter of Nigel Farage, serving as a United Kingdom Independence Party MEP from 2014 until 2019.
Mr O’Flynn is understood to have died from cancer which advanced rapidly. Friends said he went to the doctor after feeling unwell, was diagnosed with stage four liver cancer and told he only had weeks to live.
Leading tributes, Mr Farage said: “So sad to hear of the passing of Patrick O’Flynn. Paddy was a great journalist, a great thinker, a great patriot and a titan of our joint cause. Thank you, Paddy.”
Boris Johnson said: “Sad to hear of the loss of Patrick O’Flynn – a truly original conservative journalist who grasped the causes of much of the current discontent. His pieces were always punchy and persuasive. He will be missed.”
And Kemi Badenoch said: “This is dreadful news. I can’t quite believe it. My husband and I always enjoyed Patrick’s company. He often messaged me with thoughts on politics.
“We’d agree on substance, then argue over tactics. I teased him about being a secret leftie… but my goodness, he loved his country.”
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Broadcaster and former Sunday Express political editor Julia Hartley-Brewer told Sky News: “It’s just a terrible and huge shock. Such a genuinely good bloke.”
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After his election as MEP for the East of England in 2014, Mr O’Flynn was UKIP’s spokesman on the economy until 2015, when he stood as the party’s candidate in Cambridge in the general election.
He quit UKIP in 2018 and joined the Social Democratic Party and stood in the Peterborough parliamentary by-election in 2019 for the SDP, but received only 135 votes.
