British peer Lord Avebury who became well-known in local circles for a report exposing fraud in the 1980 general elections has died at the age of 87, according to the BBC.
Following his observing of the 1980 elections as part of an international team, Lord Avebury delivered a scathing report on the elections. He said in part “We came to Guyana aware of the serious doubts expressed about the conduct of previous elections there, but determined to judge these elections on their own merit and hoping that we should be able to say that the result was fair. We deeply regret that, on the contrary, we were obliged to conclude, on the basis of abundant and clear evidence, that the election was rigged massively and flagrantly”.
He famously described the Elections Commission of that period as a “toothless poodle”. The PNC was in office at that time.
Born Eric Lubbock, he became Liberal MP for Orpington in 1962 when he won a by-election with a huge 22% swing from the Conservatives, the BBC said.
He held the seat for eight years, moving to the Lords in 1971 when he inherited the title of Baron Avebury.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron paid tribute to a “true Liberal”, “great campaigner” and “committed internationalist”.
Farron said the peer, who had been suffering from leukaemia, would “be remembered as much for his unyielding commitment to fighting for Liberal causes as his sensational by-election victory”.
“He campaigned to lower the voting age, founded the parliamentary human rights group and fought for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, taking up the cases of hundreds of individuals fleeing persecution.
“He was a committed internationalist, regularly promoting human rights around the world. The Liberal Democrats have lost a great campaigner, a great friend and a true champion of the Liberal cause”, the BBC reported
A Buddhist, Lord Avebury was the patron of Angulimala, which promotes the teaching and practice of Buddhism in British prisons.
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said Lord Avebury had supported countless human rights campaigns.
“His knowledge of foreign affairs, particularly of remote parts of the developing world, was second to none. The weak and oppressed in these places have lost a true champion”, he said, according to the BBC.
