Charles Kennedy (Former leader of Liberal Democrats dies aged 55, theguardian.com, 2 June) was a rarity in public life: a thoroughly decent man who was honest enough to admit his failings and who was not treated kindly for doing so. He was immensely charming and funny, as I discovered when putting the service together for his wedding and he remarked that I “needed to get the text on to four pages. I’m a Scot remember,” he said, “and I like to play into the stereotype!”
I heard him speak when I, like him, was a young SDP supporter at university, and he certainly was not stereotypical in any way. I will remember him as a compassionate public servant who was thoroughly principled and who cared for the least and the lost in a way that was deeply moving. Our nation is the poorer for his passing.
Canon Chris Chivers
Vicar, John Keble Church, London
• Tragic loss at a time when integrity, humanity and natural warmth seem thin on the ground. A man without a trace of veneer, he was one of my political heroes. In politics for the right reasons and a true servant of the public. As a Labour voter I have always regarded him as an honorary member.
Oh the irony of him, generous and free-thinking, being replaced by a representative of a party so solipsistic and doctrinaire. Chalk and cheese.
Miss you, Charlie.
Carolyn Kirton
Aberdeen
• Why can’t we praise people when still alive? The tributes to Charles Kennedy show an entirely different person to the one portrayed by the media during his life. What is wrong with us that we are afraid to be pleasant about someone living? If only Charles had known how highly people thought of him.
Dr Petrina Stevens
Sherington, Buckinghamshire
• I find the crocodile tears shed by MPs over Charles Kennedy nauseating. I remember him being verbally crucified in the House of Commons when he spoke out against the Iraq invasion.
John Richards
Oxford
• Charles Kennedy is said to have been “beset by demons”, a euphemism for his problems with alcohol. Kennedy bravely opposed the invasion of Iraq as well as his party’s coalition with the Tories. Sadly these demons remain and we will continue to share them with his memory.
Toby Wood
Peterborough. Cambridgeshire
