Lib Dem leader Ed Davey on SDP founder Shirley Williams

Shirley Williams was a “liberal lion”, says Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey.

He added that she "trail blazed for women and the values she cared so about".

But he admitted the former peer could be a little lax with her time keeping, but only because she was “so generous with her time”.

Shirley Williams was a Labour minister before joining the SDP which later merged into the Liberal Democrats.