Skip to content

Labour peer dies 'after contracting coronavirus'

Houses of Parliament Lord Jimmy GordonHouses of Parliament
James 'Jimmy' Gordon was political editor of STV News and founded Radio Clyde

A Scottish Labour peer and former broadcaster has died after reportedly contracting coronavirus.

Lord Gordon of Strathblane passed away on Tuesday at the age of 83.

James Gordon was formerly political editor of STV and founded Radio Clyde. Both organisations have reported that he had contracted the virus.

A statement from his family said he would be "missed so much" and paid tribute to "his generosity, his kindness and his enthusiasm for life".

Former First Minister Jack McConnell said Lord Gordon had "an outstanding career in business and public service" and had "transformed broadcasting".

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

Lord Gordon had a long career in broadcasting, working as political editor of STV between 1965 and 1973, when he became managing director of the new Radio Clyde station.

He remained in that post until 1996, and continued as chairman of Scottish Radio Holdings until 2005.

Outside of the media, he was a member of the Scottish Development Agency and chaired the Scottish Tourist Board - later VisitScotland - and was made a life peer by Labour in 1997.

Both STV and Radio Clyde reported he had died after contracting coronavirus, and the Press Association said it also understeood this to be the case.