Patrick O'Flynn dead: Former MEP and veteran journalist dies aged 59 as Nigel Farage pays tribute

O’Flynn, who served as the political editor of the Daily Express before entering politics, was elected to the European Parliament in 2014 as a UKIP representative for the East of England. He also stood as the party’s economy spokesperson until 2015.

His cause of death is not yet known.

A longtime figure in Westminster’s press lobby, O’Flynn spent over two decades in journalism, starting at the Birmingham Post and Sunday Express before joining the Daily Express, where he served as political editor from the 1990s until 2005 and later became chief comment editor. He also contributed to The Spectator and The Telegraph.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK and former UKIP leader, said on X: “So sad to hear of the passing of Patrick O’Flynn. Paddy was a great journalist, a great thinker, a great patriot and a titan of our joint cause. Thank you Paddy.”

Tributes have since poured in for O’Flynn. Barrister Steven Barrett wrote: “A brilliant mind and independent thinker I am shocked to lose him. How it drives home that we none of us, are here forever And perhaps we could cut each other some slack while we are All my love to his family and friends x x.”

Political commentator Lee Harris said: “Really sad news. He will be missed. RIP Patrick.” One said: “I am truly shocked at his death...no other words.”

O’Flynn’s entry into politics came during UKIP’s surge in the 2014 European elections, when the party beat both Labour and the Conservatives in the national vote. He ran unsuccessfully for Parliament in Cambridge during the 2015 general election.

He left the UKIP frontbench in 2017, citing disagreements over the party’s economic direction, and joined the Social Democratic Party a year later.

O’Flynn is survived by his wife, Carole Ann, also a former Daily Express contributor and a life coach, and their two children, a son and a daughter.