to get involved in the initiative. Illness and death In December 2017, Brokenshire noted blood in his cough, and testing disclosed early-stage lung cancer. The following month, he had the upper lobe of his right lung removed at Guy's Hospital and returned to parliament five weeks later. Brokenshire said that he wanted to end the social stigma around lung cancer because, he, like 15% of people with the disease, had never smoked. In January 2021, he took a leave of absence from his ministerial post in preparation for a pneumonectomy. On 3 October 2021, Brokenshire was admitted to Darent Valley Hospital in Kent because of a further deterioration in his condition; he died there on 7 October, aged 53. Many political figures, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer, memorialised him. The House of Commons held tributes to him on 20 October; his funeral took place the next day at St John the Evangelist Church in Bexley. Robert Buckland, Cressida Dick, Bob Neill, Priti Patel and Rishi Sunak were named as some of those in attendance. Former prime minister Theresa May gave a Bible reading. Honours He was sworn in as a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council on 4 June 2015. This gave him the honorific title "The Right Honourable" for life. Notes References External links Official website Tribute to James Brokenshire, 1968–2021 Profile on the Conservative Party website Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: James Brokenshire MP |- |- |- |- 1968 births 2021 deaths Alumni of London Guildhall University Alumni of the University of Exeter Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deaths from lung cancer in England Jones Day people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at the Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies People from Southend-on-Sea Politics of the London Borough of Havering Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present