page_title: Paddy Ashdown
section_title: Illness and death
hierarchical_section_title: Paddy Ashdown / Illness and death
caption_attribution_description: This file supersedes the file Official portrait of Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon crop 2.jpg. It is recommended to use this file rather than the other one. Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| español&#160;| français&#160;| magyar&#160;| Bahasa Indonesia&#160;| 日本語&#160;| македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| polski&#160;| русский&#160;| davvisámegiella&#160;| svenska&#160;| 中文（简体）‎&#160;| 中文（繁體）‎&#160;| +/−
context_page_description: Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, CH, KBE, PC, known as Paddy Ashdown, was a British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. He achieved international recognition for his role in Bosnia–Herzegovina as its High Representative from 2002 to 2006, following his vigorous lobbying for military action against Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
  After serving as a Royal Marine and Special Boat Service officer and as an intelligence officer in the UK security services, Ashdown was elected Member of Parliament for Yeovil in 1983 before retiring in 2001.
  Ashdown received national recognition for his services by appointment as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2006 New Year Honours and Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the 2015 New Year Honours. In 2017, Ashdown was appointed an Officier of the Légion d'Honneur by the French Government.
  A polyglot, Ashdown had an interpretership qualification in Mandarin and was fluent in several other languages.
context_section_description: Ashdown was diagnosed with bladder cancer in October 2018. He died on 22 December 2018 at the age of 77. On 10 January 2019 a funeral service was held at St Mary's Church, Norton Sub Hamdon, in Somerset, and he was buried in the church's cemetery. A Service of Thanksgiving was held for Ashdown at Westminster Abbey on 10 September 2019.
caption: Ashdown in 2018
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