My contribution to The Times' obituary for Robin Ferrers, one of the most respected and liked Home Office Ministers

1. Martin Narey writes:
In 1991, many years before I became Director General of the
Prison Service, and in the hope that it might teach a junior
prison governor something about Whitehall, I was appointed
as private secretary to Robin Ferrers.
As Minister of State he had a massive brief, covering police,
fire, charities and broadcasting, although he was never Prisons
Minister. At the same time he had to steer through the Lords
every piece of Home Office legislation. He rarely finished work
in the Lords until late into the night.
He was, by some measure, the most courteous man I ever met
and one of the kindest. Officials in the Home Office loved him.
For his part he insisted that anyone who worked into the
evening offering him advice from the officials box later had to
be entertained to a drink in his office.
He was uncomfortable with aggressive party politics and
instead worked hard at relationships on every side of the
Lords. Time and again he steered difficult legislation through
a sceptical House, often by virtue of his considerable charm
and evident decency.
I worked for him for 18 months. During all that time I never
once saw him compromise his beliefs. He simply never said or
did anything which he didn’t think was the right thing to do.
He was a great man.