Frank Field is set to be offered the freedom of the borough after 40 years as Birkenhead’s MP.
Lord Field, now a crossbench peer, is set to be awarded the honour at an extraordinary meeting of Wirral Council on February 16.
He has been a huge figure in national politics for more than four decades.
READ MORE: Driver 'can't explain' how £125,000 got into the boot of Range Rover
Praised for his tireless work on poverty and standing up for disabled people hit by benefit reforms, Lord Field also drew criticism for writing columns for The S*n newspaper and voting for both Theresa May's and Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.
His career as an MP ended at the 2019 General Election after he stood for his own party against Labour and lost, following his decision to quit the party after 39 years as one of its MPs in August 2018, citing anti-semitism and bullying in the party.
In October, Lord Field revealed that he was terminally ill and had spent time in a hospice.
During a debate on assisted dying in the House of Lords, a statement was read out on his behalf by Baroness Molly Meacher.
It confirmed that he was dying and added that his own experience and the experiences of colleagues have led him to change his mind on assisted dying and back a bill that aims to enable adults who are terminally ill to be supported to end their own lives.
A section of the statement from Lord Field said: "I've just spent a period in a hospice and am not well enough to participate in today's debate. If I had been, I would have spoken strongly in favour.
"I changed my mind on assisted dying when an MP friend was dying of cancer and wanted to die early, before the full horror effects set in, but was denied this opportunity.”
The agenda for next week’s council meeting confirmed that Lord Field is set to be offered the freedom of Wirral.
A section of the agenda read: “The council has the power to grant a person the title of Honorary Freeman or Freewoman of the Borough to persons of distinction who have rendered eminent service to the Borough.
“This is a very significant step for the Council to take. Very few people have been awarded this status and, quite rightly, it should only be awarded to someone who has made an exceptional contribution to the Borough.
“Frank Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead, is considered to be within this category.”
Lord Field’s eagerness to address the causes of poverty were apparent even before he first won his Birkenhead seat in 1979.
In 1969, he became the director of the Child Poverty Action Group and led the Low Pay Unit from 1974-1980.
He served as welfare reform minister in Tony Blair's first government in 1997 with a remit to "think the unthinkable" and went on to chair the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
Lord Field remained in the post of welfare reform minister for little over a year following policy clashes with the Prime Minister and then Chancellor Gordon Brown.
Got a Wirral story? Email me at george.morgan@reachplc.com
He continued working on welfare reform issues after being dropped as a minister.
As chairman of the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, he campaigned against the way Universal Credit was being rolled out, and had a number of colourful clashes, most notably with former BHS boss Sir Philip Green.
