Lord Ashley of Stoke has died aged 89 © REUTERSRussell Boyce Disabled rights campaigner Lord Ashley of Stoke, the first deaf MP, has died aged 89, following a short illness. He spent most of his 26 years in the Commons in total deafness, yet remained a forceful and unique parliamentary and practical champion of disabled people. Some 25 years later, thanks to what he described as a miracle development in the curing of deafness, his hearing at least partially returned. He was not afraid to vote against his own Labour government when he felt that disabled people were not being treated fairly or generously. Labour leader Ed Miliband described him as an extrordinary man: "I am very sad to hear of the death of Jack Ashley. He was an outstanding servant of the Labour party and an extraordinary campaigner for equal rights for people with disabilities. Jack Ashley turned his own tragic experience of losing his hearing into a mission of courage and determination for deaf and disabled people. He was a pioneer as the first deaf MP to sit in Parliament, but he did much more than that. He is survived by three daughters. One of his daughters, Jackie Ashley, is married to Andrew Marr, the BBC political editor, and is also a political commentator in her own right. Lord Ashley's wife, Pauline, died in 2003.