Tributes paid to Labour MP Alan Keen after death at 73
Alan Keen Ann Keen Ed Miliband Gordon Brown Graeme Souness Tony Blair
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LABOUR MP Alan Keen, a former football talent scout who was the sport’s greatest champion in Parliament, has died of cancer aged 73.
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The Mirror
LABOUR MP Alan Keen, a former football talent scout who was the sport’s greatest champion in Parliament, has died of cancer aged 73.

Mr Keen was chairman of the all-party football group and a member of the Culture, Media and Sport committee.

He was a talent scout for his beloved Middlesbrough for 18 years, bringing Graeme Souness to the club.

Former PM Gordon Brown led tributes to Mr Keen, praising him as a popular MP and a “great fighter”.

Mr Brown said: “I salute his bravery in facing cancer – fighting it as long as he could – and he will be remembered as someone who taught us how to fight illness.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “Alan Keen was a decent, generous man and his death is a great loss. Alan was Labour to his core – loyal, passionate about social justice and deeply committed to a fairer society.”

Tony Blair also spoke of his sadness at the news, adding: “He brought that passion for football with him to Westminster and was a fantastic advocate for sport as a force for good in society through his years in the Commons.”

Mr Keen, who served as MP for Feltham and Heston from 1992, is survived by his wife, the former health minister Ann Keen, and his two sons and a daughter.

His death means a by-election in his London seat which he held with a majority of 4,658 at the last election.