The unexpected death of British parliamentarian Charles Kennedy at the age of 55 on Tuesday led to a national outpouring of grief across the political spectrum and from numerous corners of UK society.

 Kennedy, former leader of the Liberal Democrat party and Scottish MP, had been regarded as a hugely likeable politician, but his career had long been marred by a hardly concealed drinking problem, which eventually led to his ouster from the leadership of his party in 2006.
As a strong critic of the government of Tony Blair, he took a strong stance against the introduction of tuition fees, the security state and, perhaps most memorably, UK involvement in the invasion of Iraq.