Lord McAlpine - champion of Margaret Thatcher and libel victim - has died at his Italian home aged 71

Lord McAlpine of West Green died peacefully last night, his family said

He was Conservative deputy chairman and an aide to Margaret Thatcher

The peer was the wrongful target of speculation connected to child abuse

'Peaceful death': Lord McAlpine's family announced that he had died at home

Lord McAlpine, the former Tory deputy chairman who won libel damages from Sally Bercow over false allegations of child sex abuse, died yesterday – three months after settling with the Speaker’s wife.

The peer, who passed away aged 71 at his home in Italy, was instrumental in Baroness Thatcher’s Election successes, raising millions for the party as its treasurer.

But his final years were overshadowed by a BBC Newsnight report in 2012 that wrongly implicated him in allegations of sex abuse at the Bryn Estyn children’s home in North Wales in the 1970s and 1980s.

Although the programme did not name the politician, during widespread speculation about his identity Mrs Bercow wrote on Twitter: ‘Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent face*.’

The peer accepted £185,000 from the BBC and a six-figure sum from ITV for following up the story.



However, Mrs Bercow held out until last October, when she finally apologised for causing him ‘great distress and embarrassment’ and agreed to pay £15,000 damages.

She also shut down her Twitter account, which had previously hosted dozens of messages a day – many of them politically partisan and embarrassing to her husband.

After the case, Lord McAlpine’s lawyer said the peer had tried to settle the case earlier ‘to avoid the detrimental effect of litigation on his health’, but Mrs Bercow had refused. He complained that ‘political positioning’ had prevailed over ‘common sense’.



The furore also forced the BBC’s director general at the time, George Entwistle, to quit less than two months after taking up the role, saying that as editor-in chief he had to take ‘ultimate responsibility’ for the bungled investigation.

Senior Conservative: Lord McAlpine, pictured left in 1998 and right in 1979, rose to the rank of deputy party chairman



Remembrance: David Cameron tweeted in response to the news

Lord McAlpine struggled with dyslexia at Stowe public school, leaving at 16 to join the building company founded by his great grandfather, Sir Robert McAlpine. He showed such a flair for business that within five years he was appointed a director of the firm.

Mrs Thatcher named him as joint treasurer of the Conservative Party in 1975, adding the deputy chairmanship in the wake of her 1979 General Election victory.

He was famed for throwing ‘champagne and lobster’ parties, hosted in his trademark corduroy suits, and was credited with bringing in tens of millions in donations by the time he became Lord McAlpine of West Green in 1984.

A staunch Eurosceptic, he grew disenchanted with John Major – at one stage accusing the former Prime Minister of ‘stuffing up a great party’ and being ‘distasteful’.



He defected to James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party in 1996, becoming its leader in 1997 before later rejoining the Conservatives.

The property developer, who was also an author, zookeeper and explorer, stood down from the House of Lords in 2010 for tax reasons and retreated to the converted convent he ran as a bed and breakfast with his third wife, Athena, in Puglia.

Court battle: Sally Bercow, pictured heading to the High Court, eventually withdrew her allegations and agreed to pay £15,000 in damages

Tweet: Sally Bercow was ordered to pay £15,000, which was donated to charity, after posted the above tweet

He was previously married to Sarah Baron, with whom he had two daughters, and Romilly Hobbs, his former secretary with whom he had another daughter.

At one stage he said of his marriages: ‘I keep changing my life, houses and relationships. I reinvent myself every few years. My first marriage lasted 15 years and this one [to Ms Hobbs] 20.

‘It’s hardly into bed and out the other side. There was a great deal of love. But there comes a point when life is just a habit, and I’m rather against habits.’

David Cameron paid tribute to him on Twitter yesterday, saying: ‘My thoughts are with Lord McAlpine’s family – he was a dedicated supporter of Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party.’

Former party chairman Lord Parkinson, who worked closely with Lord McAlpine, described him as an ‘outstanding’ treasurer. ‘He was a most unusual, intriguing, interesting character with a fantastic range of interests,’ he said.

Another ex-chairman, Lord Tebbit, said: ‘He was a joy to be with because he always had something interesting to say.’

Yesterday, one Twitter user posted on the social networking site: ‘Where’s #SallyBercow? The dreadful woman is strangely silent. RIP, Lord McAlpine.’