Just two weeks after stepping down from his roles in government, Lord Jeremy Heywood of Whitehall passed away from cancer this weekend, aged 56.
The top civil servant took a leave of absence from his roles in June 2018 due to ill health and retired on 24th October. He passed away from Cancer on the morning of the 4th November.
In a statement, Lady Suzanne Heywood, his wife called him a “wonderful father” and said that he “crammed a huge amount into his 56 years”.
Theresa May made a statement through Downing Street yesterday saying:
“This is extremely sad news and all of my thoughts are with Jeremy’s family and friends… He worked tirelessly to serve our country in the finest traditions of the Civil Service and he is a huge loss to British public life.”
Many top politicians have paid tribute to him and the work that he has done for the country.
Sir Jeremy began his career as a civil servant in the 1980’s, he joined the Health and Safety Executive in 1983. He served four Prime Ministers whilst working at the top end of government.
In 2012, Lord Heywood was knighted alongside being made Cabinet Secretary, a post that he held until 24th October 2018, he was also Chief Civil Servant from 2014 to 2018.
