Lord Gavron, the Labour peer and former chair of the Guardian Media Group, has died of a heart attack at the age of 84.
A former barrister, Bob Gavron received a life peerage as Baron Gavron of Highgate in 1999. He was called to the bar in 1955 but went on to enjoy a long and distinguished career in the world of printing and publishing.
Gavron was owner and chair of the Folio Society publisher and chair of the Guardian Media Group, publisher of the Guardian and Observer newspapers and the fledgling website guardian.co.uk, between 1997 and 2000.
It is understood that Gavron, who used his wealth to support both the Labour party and the IPPR thinktank, suffered a cardiac arrest at home after playing tennis on Saturday lunchtime.
Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of theguardian.com, the Guardian and the Observer, said: “Bob Gavron was a good friend of the Guardian and the Observer.
“He took over as chair of GMG at a time when the newspaper industry was beset by disruption and change and steered us through times of great challenge and opportunity with wisdom, tenacity, intelligence and good humour.”
Gavron’s last contribution in the House of Lords was to highlight the soaring pay of company directors. He told the Lords: “Fifty years ago, high court judges, permanent secretaries, generals, admirals, air marshals and the heads of our leading public companies were all paid, broadly speaking, about the same. Outstandingly able people were all fairly and properly rewarded.
“Today, while the others have remained roughly in line with each other, the directors of our public companies have soared ahead to the extent that they are paid up to 50 times as much as their former peers, some even more than that.
“Have they suddenly become 50 times more intelligent or 50 times more effective? No. The reasons they get so much more is that they are the only members of the above grouping who can, in terms of rewards, help themselves.”
Labour’s chief whip in the Lords, Lord Bassam paid tribute to the peer’s achievements. He said: “Bob Gavron will be sorely missed by his colleagues in the Lords and people across the wider labour movement. He did so much during his life in so many different worlds – in publishing, for the arts and in politics, to name but a few. A truly great philanthropist. My thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time.”
Gavron is survived by his wife, Katharine; his daughter, the film director Sarah Gavron, and his grandson, the actor Rafi Gavron.
