PADDY ASHDOWN, 77 It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Paddy Ashdown on December 22, 2018. Paddy Ashdown was born Jeremy John Durham Ashdown on February 27, 1941. He joined the Royal Marines in 1959, and served with distinction in the army and special forces. He was awarded an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for his service in 1971. In 1983, he left the Marines to pursue his ambition to become a politician, and was elected as Liberal Member of Parliament for Yeovil in 1983, serving for 18 years until 2001. He was elected the first leader of the Liberal Democrats in 1988, and during his tenure, the party moved away from its traditional left-wing policies to become a centre-left Third Way party. He played a pivotal role in defeating the Conservative's proposed introduction of a Poll Tax and in the New Labour government of Tony Blair. As Liberal Democrats leader, he helped to create the 'Lib-Lab pact' between the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties which enabled Blair's Labour minority government to pass legislation and helped secure a reformed voting system to replace the existing First-Past-The-Post. In 2002, he was appointed a member of the House of Lords as Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon in Somerset, and in 2005 was made a Companion of Honour (CH). Since then, he had continued to remain involved in party activities and in 2013 published his memoirs. He will be greatly missed by all who knew, admired, and respected him.