Tory Leader's Son Dies

There were tributes in the UK parliament today as news arrived that the six year old son of Conservative Party leader David Cameron had died early that morning. Six year old Ivan was severely disabled and had been since birth. He was born with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and Ohtohara Syndrome (a rare neurological disease). Ivan was not expected to live beyond childhood due to the severity of his disability. He was hospitalised after suffering a severe seizure during the night. He died at 6.30am this morning in St. Mary’s hospital, Paddington, London.

Mr Cameron’s son was prone to seizures associated with both his epilepsy and a symptom of ohtohara syndrome and some sufferers can experience up to 100 seizures a day. His death came unexpectedly and friends of the family have reported that the day he was taken sick was the same as any other day for the family. Ivan was unable to walk, talk but Mr Cameron often spoke of how his son’s smiles were ‘magical’ and was never shy to talk about his struggle to cope with his son’s disability.

The Prime Minister paid tribute to both Mr Cameron and his son in the House of Commons today, interrupting the usual daily debates. Although in the past he has criticised Mr Cameron for using his disabled son to gain votes Mr Brown described Ivan as having ‘brought joy to those around him’ and described his life as ‘all too brief’ . He also expressed his condolences for Mr Cameron, his wife and other children, Nancy, 5 and Arthur, 3. The Prime Minister has also experienced the loss of a child, his 10 day old daughter Jennifer died in 2001. His young son Fraser has cystic fibrosis.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, also expressed his condolences to Mr Cameron and his family at this time. His wife gave birth to their third son at the weekend. There have been many such statements uttered in Westminster today. Many of Mr Cameron’s staff were said to been devastated today at the loss of a child they had come to know.

The speaker of the house today suspended sitting for several hours this morning out of respect for Ivan and the Prime Minister suggested cancelling the weekly commons clash out of respect. Today’s Prime Minister’s questions was also cancelled as was a ceremony unveiling a statue of Baroness Thatcher that Mr Cameron was due to attend.

The Cameron family have released a statement thanking people for their messages of condolences. It is believed Mr Cameron will take two weeks leave leaving Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague in charge for the time being. They have also expressed their thanks to the NHS for their help during their ‘beautiful boy’s too short life’ . They also asked if anyone wished to send flowers to instead make a donation to Mencap or Friends of St. Mary’s hospital.