Brentwood and Ongar Conservative MP Eric Pickles has paid tribute to Margaret Thatcher, describing her as "the greatest peacetime leader of the 20th century".
The communities secretary was initially too upset to speak when the news broke but he has praised the 87-year-old former Prime Minister as both a person and a politician after her death was announced this morning.Read tributes from Mr Pickles' fellow MPs here.
He said: "She was a colossus across the political scene throughout the 1970s, 80s and the 90s.
"I knew her very well; I wouldn't have become an MP without her.
"She gave me a push at the Scarborough Spring Tory Conference in the late 1980s when I was considering not applying.
"She had me by the elbow and frogmarched me across the room.
"I think she was very kind. She was a Marmite politician but there can't be any doubt that
Britain in the 1970s was practically ungovernable and she took on those disruptive forces and led the consensus on the right which (John) Major and (Tony) Blair continued."
Although Mr Pickles said he would not consider himself a close personal friend with the former Prime Minister, they remained in regular contact.
"I've kept up with her over the years. The last time we were together, I think, was when I gave her an honorary doctorate from the University of Lodz, Poland.
"Obviously she had been ill for some time and she was too frail to go to Poland but they did a video link at the London School of Economic and I attended the after dinner with her.
"She was a mother and a grandmother and she will be missed."What are your memories of Margaret Thatcher's reign? How will she be remembered? Leave your comments below.
