Ealing Southall MP dies aged 82

1.19.44pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 20th Jun 2007

The MP for Ealing Southall, Piara Khabra, has sadly died aged 82. He had been the Labour MP for Ealing Southall since the 1992 General Election. The oldest member of the House of Commons, Mr Khabra was reported as having been been undergoing treatment for liver problems.

Tony Blair has led tributes to the MP, saying:

"He was a tremendous servant to his constituents. He will be greatly missed and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time."

Nigel Bakhai, Lib Dem candidate in Ealing Southall in the 2005 General Election, said: "On behalf of Ealing Lib Dems, I would like to offer our condolences to Mr. Khabra's family on their loss. Mr Khabra served a long and distinguished career in Southall politics and, as someone who is closely involved in local politics, I can well appreciate the amount and nature of the casework that a constituency MP in an area like Ealing Southall receives and the way Mr Khabra dealt with this heavy workload with grace and due diligence. He will be sorely missed by the many constituents he met and helped over the years."

Local Liberal Democrat Alan Whelan added: "I have fond memories of Piara from the time when I was Southall constituency secretary of the newly formed SDP. When Piara joined us he brought energy and enthusiasm to the Ealing Party and many of us were sad when he returned to the Labour Party.

"Those of us who worked either with or against him in Ealing Southall will all remember him with great fondness."

At the 2005 General Election, the Liberal Democrats came second in Ealing Southall with almost 25% of the vote. The full results can be seen at http://ealinglibdems.org.uk/results/903.html

Related Link:

More information on Piara Khabra.