Lord David Lipsey dies while swimming in River Wye

Labour peer Lord David Lipsey has died while swimming in a river, police have confirmed.

Dyfed-Powys Police said it received a report concerning the safety of a man who was last seen swimming in the River Wye in Glasbury, Powys, on Monday.

After a multi-agency search on 1 July, officers confirmed the body of Lord Lipsey, 77, was recovered.

Police said his next of kin have been informed and have asked for their privacy to be respected.

Lord Lipsey, originally from Dorset, lived in Powys and was a patron of the Glasbury Arts Festival.

In the 1970s, Lord Lipsey served as a special adviser to Labour minister and diarist Anthony Crosland and on the staff at 10 Downing Street under Prime Minister Jim Callaghan, later Lord Callaghan.

He had previously worked as a journalist for The Sunday Times, New Society and The Economist and co-founded the short-lived Sunday Correspondent in 1988.

He was awarded a life peerage by former PM Tony Blair in 1999.

He is also credited with coining the phrases “New Labour” and “winter of discontent”.

Lord Lipsey was also a fan of greyhound racing, chairing the British Greyhound Racing Board (now called the Great British Greyhound Board) between 2004 and 2009, and worked to get dogs rehomed at the end of their careers.

Lord Speaker John McFall said the upper chamber extended its “condolences to the noble Lord’s family and friends”.