Prime Minister David Cameron has paid tribute to Tony Benn, who passed away in his West London home this morning.
The late Labour veteran, born in 1925, was an MP for 50 years and a cabinet minister under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan.
Tributes and memories poured in on social media this morning.
Mr Cameron said this morning: "Tony Benn was a magnificent writer, speaker and campaigner.
"There was never a dull moment listening to him, even if you disagreed with him."
A BBC poll in 2006 voted him Britain's most popular politician above Margaret Thatcher.
Gareth Thomas, Labour's Harrow West MP who worked with Mr Benn's son Hilary Benn during the Labour government, told Get West London: "You could not help but admire him. He was criticised and attacked for his views, but it is voices like his that have made Labour as strong as they are today.
"He was a great character with such personal charisma. He will be sorely missed and I am now thinking of his family who must be experiencing a very difficult time at the moment."
A statement from his children Stephen, Hilary, Melissa and Joshua said: "It is with great sadness that we announce that our father Tony Benn died peacefully early this morning at his home in West London surrounded by his family.
"We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the NHS staff and carers who have looked after him with such kindness in hospital and at home.
"We will miss above all his love which has sustained us throughout our lives. But we are comforted by the memory of his long, full and inspiring life and so proud of his devotion to helping others as he sought to change the world for the better."
Mr Benn famously described himself in 1960 as 'not a reluctant peer, but a persistent commoner'.
