Tributes have been paid to Yorkshire Post opinion editor Tom Richmond, who has died suddenly at the age of 52.
Post editor James Mitchinson announced the news on Twitter, saying Richmond “truly embodied everything that we wanted to be as a newspaper”.
He added: “Tom was a formidable journalist; a ferocious inquisitor; a tenacious talent determined to make a difference and yet, for all of those traits he went about his journalism with a deft touch.
“A compassionate, caring man who campaigned hard for social care reform. For equality of opportunities. For the lonely and the have nots. The Yorkshire Post has lost a special man, Yorkshire a guardian. Rest in peace, mate. You made each and every one of us better journalists, and we will never, ever forget you. I promise.”
Many others paid tribute on Twitter, including South Yorkshire Mayor and Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis, who said he was a “great champion for Yorkshire & the North, fearless in pursuit of the truth and in holding the powerful to account”.
Before the Post, Richmond worked on the Nottingham Post, Exeter Express & Echo and Hull Daily Mail.
One of Richmond’s main passions was horse racing – in 2014 he was nominated as Racing Writer of the Year – and jockey Tom Scudamore was one of those paying tribute.
He tweeted: “He was a kind, good soul and somebody I always enjoyed talking to and spending time with. Such sad news.
“He was always the first to text or drop a line. His enthusiasm and passion for the sport I love, always shone through.”
Holly Lynch, MP for Halifax, said Richmond “was one of the most relentless people I’ve ever met when he got a whiff of an injustice”.
And Tom Riordan, CEO of Leeds City Council, described Richmond as a “formidable journalist… you knew when you were on the receiving end of his insight. He was a fierce defender of the taxpayer and stood up for social care.”
