Ludovic Kennedy

HSLD is sad to learn of the death of Ludovic Kennedy at the age of 89. He was both a committed secularist and a prominent Liberal Democrat campaigner. He first came to public notice as a campaigning journalist. He made a huge contribution towards the abolition of the death penalty in Britain through his rigorous investigations into miscarriages of justice, particularly the case of Timothy Evans - who was wrongly hanged for the murder of his wife at 10 Rillington Place.

In 1958 he stood in a Parliamentary by-election in Rochdale coming second with over 35% of the vote in a seat not fought by the Liberals at the previous election.

A lifelong atheist, he published All In The Mind: A Farewell To God in 1999, in which he discussed his philosophical objections to religion. He was a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association; and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.

He was a vigorous campaigner for assisted dying and moved the 1997 motion at the Liberal Democrat Conference that brought the issue to the Conference floor.