Sir Bernard Ingham, long-standing press secretary to Margaret Thatcher, has died after a short illness, his family said. The former journalist, who was also press secretary to Labour MP Tony Benn, was still writing columns until a few days before he died.
Sir Bernard served under Mrs Thatcher between 1979 and 1990, and was knighted in her resignation honours. He was a Fleet Street journalist with The Guardian before becoming a Government press officer and positioned himself as a bitter enemy of "spin", criticising those who practised the "black art".
After leaving Downing Street, he wrote his memoirs, Kill The Messenger. He also worked as a political pundit, an after-dinner speaker, a cruise lecturer and a newspaper columnist.
His family said "he was a journalist to his bones", starting out aged 16 on his local paper in West Yorkshire, The Hebden Bridge Times. He was still filing weekly columns to Express Online and The Yorkshire Post until a few days before he died.
The former journalist, who was 90, died with his family around him on Friday lunchtime, a statement said. His son John said: “To the wider world he is known as Margaret Thatcher’s chief press secretary, a formidable operator in the political and Whitehall jungles.
“But to me he was my dad – and a great dad at that. He was a fellow football fan and an adoring grandfather and great grandfather. My family will miss him greatly.”
Sir Bernard was married to Nancy Ingham, a former police officer, for 60 years. She died in 2017. He leaves a son, two grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
John Ingham thanked his father's nursing home, Tupwood Gate in Caterham, Surrey, and his previous in-home carers for their "wonderful care and support".
