Blair 'bereft' as former aide dies aged 85
Getty ImagesFormer prime minister Tony Blair says the death of his former aide at the age of 85 has left him "quite bereft".
John Burton, the former Labour prime minister's constituency agent for 24 years and a Sedgefield Borough councillor, died on Friday at home, his family said.
Blair said: "He was smart. But he was also caring, enormous fun with a brilliant sense of humour."
Trimdon parish councillor and long-time friend Paul Trippett said Burton was a gentlemen and a "colossus in local politics and national politics and a man who could speak to paupers and kings and be the same with every one of them".
Burton was Blair's constituency agent from 1983 until 2007, when the former prime minister stepped down.
In a statement on X, the former prime minister said: "John Burton was my close friend, mentor, guide and teacher for over 40 years.
"Ever since, shortly before the 1983 election, I stepped into his home during that year's European Cup Winners' Cup final which Aberdeen won under Alex Ferguson, and was told to sit quiet until the match ended, I knew I had met a fellow soul."
Blair said his agent had had "an extraordinary talent" for politics.
"No-one read the game better or had clearer and almost infallible judgment," he said.
"He was smart. But he was also caring, enormous fun with a brilliant sense of humour and company I sought as much for the laughter as for the advice.
"His passing leaves me quite bereft."
Trippett said Burton had been his schoolteacher when he was 14 years old and then became a friend when he entered politics himself.
"I'm devastated," he said.
"There's been a huge out-posting of love for John, absolute love and adoration and admiration of the man."
Successor to Blair's constituency, Labour MP for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor Alan Strickland, said Burton left a huge legacy and would be "sadly missed".
In a social media post, Strickland said Burton, who had been the chair of the Sedgefield Labour Party, had made a "major contribution to our area and the Labour movement".
Dozens of tributes have been paid to him online, with people saying he was a "top bloke" who was "always happy to help in whatever way he could".
