Funeral held for Norman Tebbit at Bury St Edmunds cathedral

The funeral service for former Conservative cabinet minister Norman Tebbit has been held at the cathedral in the town where he lived.

Lord Tebbit died at his home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 7 July, aged 94.

He was injured in an IRA bombing in Brighton in 1984, which left his wife Margaret permanently paralysed.

Several senior Tories gathered to mourn Lord Tebbit- a key Thatcher ally, among them John Gummer, Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Tory peer and author Lord Michael Dobbs, who gave the eulogy at Thursday’s service, described Lord Tebbit as “a giant” and “an inspiring leader”.

Tributes were paid during the ceremony from members of Lord Tebbit’s family. A private service is being held afterwards.

The funeral was live streamed online and included hymns sung by a choir.

Lord Tebbit’s children William, Alison and John each took turns to share reflections of their father, who Alison described as “gentle, kind, sometimes ferociously passionate and uncompromising in pursuit of his ideals”.

She said that he had loved Bury St Edmunds and thanked carers who had looked after her parents.

Son William spoke of his father’s love of cricket.

Former Conservative party leader Sir Iain, who followed Lord Tebbit as MP for Chingford in north-east London, gave a reading from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Sir Iain called Lord Tebbit a “great servant to his country” who had a “wonderfully wicked sense of humour”.

He said after the service: “He was a tough competitor but the beauty of it that came out was he had a real soft heart and was kind and had many friends on all sides of the house.”

Other Conservative party figures attending the funeral included former deputy prime minister Baroness Therese Coffey and ex-chair of the influential 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady.

Lord Dobbs said the Brighton bombing had left Lord Tebbit injured “far more seriously than many know” and had left him in pain “every day”.

The explosion at the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the annual Conservative Party conference in 1984 killed five people and seriously injured 31.

Lord Dobbs said Lord Tebbit decided to leave politics to care for his wife and described his devotion to Margaret as “total”.

Lord Tebbit served as a cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government and was the chairman of the Conservative Party from 1985 to 1987.

A loyal ally of Thatcher, Lord Tebbit backed her agenda, bringing in laws designed to curb union power – including making them liable for damages if they committed illegal acts.