Unanimous sadness on Fleet Street over exceptional journalist’s death

By Virginia Blackburn

As news of Patrick O’Flynn’s death spread, the sense of grief and sadness was palpable. An exceptional journalist, all of us who knew and loved him are still in a state of shock. Fellow political journalists commented on his talent, ability and nous, former colleagues commented on his kindness and helpfulness when they were just starting out. Patrick was only 59 and should have had another 30 years with us.

But stage four liver cancer has robbed us of a brilliant journalist and campaigner. He is not just leaving a hole in this life of his friends and colleagues, but in the life of the nation too. He was, arguably, one of the major movers behind Brexit: when as chief political commentator on the Daily Express, he was instrumental in persuading this newspaper to become the first to call for the country to leave the European Union.

Later as a UKIP MEP he campaigned for a referendum, temporarily leaving his career in journalism. He was also a great friend of mine: we sat beside each other at work for the best part of a decade and engaged in banter that ranged from the serious to the ridiculous.

We were friends out of work and, when I got together with my now husband five years ago, Patrick and his wife, journalist and life coach Carole Ann, and Justin and I became couple friends as well as individual friends. The banter continued over our dinner table. How could he have been taken from us so soon?

Patrick James O’Flynn was born on August 29, 1965, in Cambridge, one of five children, and subsequently went on to study economics at King’s College, Cambridge, followed by a diploma in journalism from City, University of London.

He started his career at the Hull Daily Mail, later moving to the Birmingham Post, where he not only began to establish himself as a journalist of great renown, but also met Carole Ann, who also worked on the paper. The couple went on to marry and had a son and a daughter.

“We met on the Birmingham Post where I was the fashion editor and he was chief news reporter,” Carole Ann recalls. “He had been Yorkshire Journalist of the Year. I loved his ambition and drive to make a difference – expose the hypocrites and bad guys in politics.

“He was so talented. We were opposites – he needed little and wasn’t into material things whereas I thought a girl could never have enough gold shoes or bottles of perfume. His love for me was one of deep devotion. I was in love with that pure love.”

Patrick moved to first the Sunday Express and, later, the Daily Express, where he wrote incisively and entertainingly about politics, but he could turn his hand to any subject at all. One of the most entertaining pieces he ever wrote was on the subject of the relationship between a man and his lawn: Patrick had been known, he confided, to mow his lawn while still wearing a suit.

Indeed, Patrick was known for his suits, which tended to be grey and dapper, although he was anything but a grey suit in temperament: wherever he was there was laughter, no matter how serious the matter under discussion.

It is unusual to say of any journalist that never was a bad word spoken about them – it can be a divisive profession – but that was certainly the case with him. He worked as the political editor until 2005, when he became the chief comment editor. I worked alongside him then and it was one of the happiest periods of my working life.

Patrick could have stayed in the lobby, the group of journalists allowed access to Westminster and who specialise in writing about politics, but in the early years of this century he began to feel that his destiny lay elsewhere.

But like so many others he was feeling disillusioned with the EU and so became involved in UKIP, persuading the then-editor of the Daily Express to back calls for a referendum, as well as campaigning to leave. Eventually he went into politics full time, becoming the MEP for the East of England, a role he held from 2014 to 2019.

In 2018, concerned about the appointment of Tommy Robinson to be an adviser of the party, he defected to the Social Democratic Party, before stepping down as an MEP.

To the delight of all of us who respected his talents enormously, Patrick returned to journalism. He started a weekly column on this newspaper – insightful and humorous, but above all well informed – as well as contributing elsewhere.

His delight in family life continued, especially when he became a grandfather last year. “He was a family man who adored his children and our 19 month granddaughter was the apple of his eye,” said Carole Ann.

Outside of family and work, his other greatest passion was the music of The Jam, often travelling to see former members playing live no matter how distant. When their former drummer Rick Buckler died in February, Patrick wrote: “One of three people who kept me sane and inspired during difficult times in adolescence. And the sensational drummer for the greatest band in the whole world.”

Patrick’s own illness was diagnosed just 10 weeks ago and it developed very quickly. Thankfully, he was surrounded by his family when he died at around 5.30pm on Tuesday. The sadness in Fleet Street has been unanimous.

“It was my privilege to have Patrick O’Flynn as a brilliant political editor,” said former Express editor Peter Hill. “He was a major force in the Brexit campaign and a wonderful friend and counsellor, an inspiration to all who worked with him at the Daily Express. He will be remembered with respect and affection.”

Political commentator Tim Shipman, who not only worked with Patrick in the lobby, but started his career alongside Patrick on the Express, said: “Patrick was a very good hack and a very nice man. And was arguably quite ahead of most of Westminster in understanding what was going on out there. He had a real twinkle in his eye.”

He did. Patrick, a fine journalist and a wonderful human being, will be very greatly missed.

Farewell to a great and dynamic force

By Leo McKinstry

The fickle hand of fate can be extraordinarily cruel. Patrick O’Flynn, one of the most distinctive voices in political journalism, has been snatched from us at the peak of his powers. He had achieved so much in his rich career yet he had so much more to offer. A brilliant illuminator of the political scene, where his piercing insights were matched by his remarkable prescience and his brave willingness to challenge the pieties of conventional wisdom, he leaves a gaping hole in his profession.

In fact, it could be argued that Patrick was the most influential British political journalist of modern times through the crucial role he played in Brexit. It was his eloquent, passionate advocacy of British freedom that persuaded the Express’s then editor Peter Hill, along with the paper’s deputy editor Hugh Whittow, to campaign for our departure from the Brussels Empire.

At the time, the paper was the lone backer of Brexit and was mocked for its isolation. But the mood changed as the excesses of European rule worsened, especially on immigration. Other papers followed the Express’s lead and, by 2016, victory had been secured in the Referendum.

No major newspaper campaign has ever been so decisive. Patrick could justly claim to have altered the course of Britain’s destiny.

The print trade is a hard, competitive one, full of clanging egos, yet Patrick always remained a generous, modest, warm-hearted figure. I discovered this for myself when I joined the Express as a columnist in 2005. He could not have been more helpful as he showed me how to sharpen up my copy and extend the range of subjects I covered. I knew I was learning from a master craftsman who was already a political veteran with more than 20 years’ experience at Westminster.

Unlike so many political pundits, he was a properly trained journalist with a diploma from City University, where he was described as the “outstanding” student of his year. He certainly lived up to that early promise.

After a stint on the Birmingham Post, he moved to the Express. The Tory inter-war Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin once described Lloyd George as “a great, dynamic force” and the phrase could be applied to Patrick.

I never ceased to marvel at the speed with which he wrote his copy, though pace never diminished the punchy quality of his prose. He was also unrivalled in his ability to analyse how a political situation would unfold.

He could expertly read a scenario the way England’s World Cup-winning manager Sir Alf Ramsey could read a football match. Patrick was in such demand because, as with Brexit, he was right so often.

All of us who were touched by his humour, wisdom and friendship will miss him. But he leaves behind an inspiring legacy.

A journalist who moved the dial and kept ahead of the game

Political journalists are generally a pretty cynical bunch. Their job is to commentate on what they observe, speculate as to the intentions of Prime Ministers, Leaders of the Opposition and do their best to predict what might come in the future.

There are very few who have ever moved the dial in terms of the political direction of the country. However, Patrick O’Flynn, whose sad and rather sudden death we learnt of on Tuesday, was one who did.

During his time as Political Editor of the Daily Express, he increasingly became of the view that Britain really ought to leave the European Union.

So much so, he was one of the very important factors that persuaded the then owner of the newspaper, Richard Desmond, to come out in 2014 as a newspaper to say it was time for Britain to leave the European Union. Much of the rest of the press world thought the Express had gone mad, but no, they were right and ahead of the game.

So motivated was Patrick by his desire for Britain to leave the European Union that he left his job as Political Editor, joined UKIP, became my Director of Communications, and then ran and succeeded in becoming a member of the European Parliament.

After he had served his term, he said he was going to go into semi-retirement, but actually his output has been prolific over the course of the last couple of years, both in print and as a contributor to GB News.

Indeed, he was one of the people who, in 2024, was constantly ringing me and encouraging me to get back into the political fray myself. The world of politics and journalism has lost a quietly spoken but deeply respected and popular figure.

For his family, which meant everything to him, we send our sincerest condolences to Carole Ann and his two children. Patrick will be greatly missed.