Britons have mourned the death of Lord Tebbit and paid tribute to a giant of Thatcherism who defied terrorists and militant Left-wingers. Conservatives saluted a “hero” of the party who “tamed” trade union bosses and won cross-party respect for the years of loving care for his wife after she suffered devastating injuries when the IRA bombed the 1984 Conservative conference hotel in Brighton.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson praised him for liberating the country from “socialist tyranny” and said his values are needed “more than ever”. But his tribute comes as Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner plans an overhaul of workers’ rights, which Conservatives fear will put Lord Tebbit’s achievements into reverse.

The ex-PM said Lord Tebbit “tamed the union bosses” and “helped pave the way for this country’s revival in the 1980s and 1990s”.

He said: “At a time when the Labour Government is now disastrously reversing those crucial reforms, we need to remember what he did and why.”

Lord Tebbit’s passing at the age of 94 has triggered memories of his most famous 1981 speech, when he described how his unemployed father did not riot but “got on his bike and looked for work”.

Mr Johnson said: “That wasn’t a heartless thing to say – as the Labour Party claimed. It was because he believed in thrift and energy and self-reliance.

“It was because he rejected a culture of easy entitlement.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described Margaret Thatcher’s employment secretary as a man who “never buckled under pressure” and “never compromised”. She said the nation had lost “one of its very best”.

Fellow former prime minister Lord Cameron said: “We say it often now, but they don’t make ’em like Norman any more.”

He said Lord Tebbit combined “great conviction” with a “direct and sometimes abrasive tone”.

“I was sometimes on the hard end of that, but there is no doubting the tremendous impact he had on our country and my party,” he said.

Lord Tebbit also served as chairman of the Conservative Party – helping deliver the 1987 victory – and as trade and industry secretary, and his courage in the wake of the Brighton bombing has never been forgotten.

He was rescued from the rubble with a broken shoulder blade, a cracked collarbone and fractured vertebrae. His wife, Margaret, was left paralysed.

A No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister’s thoughts are with Norman Tebbit’s children and family at this difficult time. Lord Tebbit was clearly a major figure in politics during the 1980s.

“Many will remember the great strength he showed in the face of the atrocious IRA bombing at the Grand Hotel in Brighton and the courage that he and his wife showed in its aftermath, and he will be missed by many.”

Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith – who succeeded him as MP for Chingford – said: “Norman’s injuries were not so visible but gave him great pain and yet at no stage did he ever seek sympathy.

“Perhaps the greatest sadness for him was having to watch, as a result of the Good Friday Agreement, those who bombed the Grand Hotel walk free while, as he once said to me: ‘My wife will never walk anywhere again.’”

Sir Iain described Lord Tebbit as his “mentor and friend”, adding: “Norman epitomised all that became to be known as Thatcherism and was critical to the success of the Thatcher Government in the 1980s.”

Former prime minister Rishi Sunak said Lord Tebbit was a “titan of Conservative politics”.

Lord Tebbit, a grammar school boy who qualified as a pilot with the RAF, secured a key reform to tackle militant unions, making them liable for damages caused by illegal acts.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said: “Norman spent his life promoting our values and through adversity and challenge, he always displayed great courage.”

Lord Tebbit stepped down as party chairman after the 1987 election to help care for his wife, who died in 2020.

Sir Conor Burns, a friend of both Lady Thatcher and Lord Tebbit, said: “Norman was a true Thatcherite revolutionary. Lady T always acknowledged his importance to her success.”

He added: “He never forgave the IRA scum who planted the Brighton bomb and caused such horrific injuries. But he was selfless in caring for his wife, whose injuries he always felt were in some way a consequence of his life in politics.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “Norman gave me a lot of help in my early days as an MEP and was a great man.”

Lord Tebbit’s son, William, said his father “died peacefully at home” at 11.15pm on Monday night.

Labour’s Michael Foot famously described the arch-Thatcherite as a “semi-house trained polecat”, but Lord Cameron said that despite his “caustic tongue and sharp wit” he was “privately a kind and thoughtful man”.

Lord Michael Dobbs, the author of House of Cards, who served as Lord Tebbit’s chief of staff, told the BBC he was “a man of great humour” as well as “tremendous courage”.

Lady Thatcher’s biographer, Lord Charles Moore, said he was the “first important personal example of Thatcherism in action because he was the self-made man from the working class and he was unapologetic about that”.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, told MPs: “He was one of the giants of the Thatcher era before his political career was cut short by the attack on the Grand Hotel in Brighton. The thoughts of the whole House are with him and his family and friends.”