Dame Esther Rantzen Remembered as 'Inspirational' Broadcaster and Tireless Campaigner After Death at 86

Dame Esther Rantzen, the broadcaster whose long career in television was matched by a lifelong record of public campaigning, has died at the age of 86, prompting an outpouring of tributes from across British public life. Her death was announced on Wednesday, and by Thursday morning colleagues, charities and political figures were lining up to describe the scale of her influence. The reaction reflected a rare double legacy: a presenter who became a household name, and a campaigner whose work changed the law, shaped public attitudes and created institutions that endure today.

Shaun Friel, director of the children's helpline Childline, which Dame Esther founded in the 1980s, described her as "an inspirational individual" who was "quite a force" as a campaigner. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said she had the ability to inspire, energise and persuade people, combining a sharp mind with a natural journalistic instinct. His comments captured the way colleagues remembered her: not simply as a familiar face on television, but as someone who used that platform with unusual determination.

Dame Esther was best known for presenting the BBC consumer affairs programme That's Life! for 21 years, a show that mixed investigations, audience participation and light entertainment and at its peak drew more than 20 million viewers. The programme gave her a career-defining platform, and she used it to expose wrongdoing and to give ordinary people a voice. It was through that work, and the abuse and neglect cases it featured, that she came to realise many children had nowhere to turn for help.

That realisation led to the creation of Childline in 1986, a free and confidential telephone counselling service for young people in distress. The helpline merged with the NSPCC in 2006, and it remains one of the most recognisable support services for children in the UK. Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the NSPCC, said Dame Esther had gone to "exceptional lengths" to ensure children and young people across the country had somewhere to turn when they needed help.

Friel said the legacy she created with Childline was "something quite incredible", adding that she had changed how society looked upon children. He described her as someone who, once she had a vision or decided something had to change, would not be deflected. It was a characterisation echoed by others who worked alongside her, and it helps explain why a television presenter came to be regarded as a campaigner of national significance.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham led the political tributes, saying the veteran broadcaster had "changed countless lives". He said he would "always admire the characteristic courage and openness with which she spoke about her illness, making us all think about the difficult questions we face at the end of life". The remarks underlined how Dame Esther's final years, lived with terminal illness, became part of her public legacy rather than a private retreat from it.

BBC director general Matt Brittin described her as a "legend of British broadcasting" whose contribution to public life was "immeasurable". He said the warmth, spirit and fight for justice and action seen on screen continued long after her programmes ended, through a lifetime of campaigning that changed the lives of millions. The tribute positioned her as a figure who blurred the line between entertainment and public service, using fame as a tool rather than an end in itself.

Tributes also came from fellow broadcasters and entertainers. Money-saving expert Martin Lewis called her an "inspiration" and a "pioneer" whose "impact and memory will long continue to shine". Dame Elaine Paige praised a "great broadcaster, journalist and campaigner", noting that Childline had helped many children in distress while The Silver Line, which Dame Esther founded in 2013, was aimed at older people suffering loneliness and isolation. Anton Du Beke, her partner on Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, shared a photograph of the pair dancing and said they had "remained firm friends" ever since, praising her "breadth of knowledge and passion" and calling her "the ultimate breaker of the glass ceiling".

Presenter Davina McCall wrote on Instagram that Dame Esther had "made the world a better place, and inspired so many of us to do better and live life to its fullest", posting a video in which she described Dame Esther as an inspiration to girls growing up. Amol Rajan said she had "changed the course of millions of lives", calling her "an inspirational, strong woman ahead of her time". The breadth of the reaction, spanning broadcasting, politics and charity, reflected a career that reached into many corners of national life.

Beyond Childline, Dame Esther led campaigns on safety, organ donation and bullying, building a reputation as a persistent and effective advocate. In 2013 she founded The Silver Line to help older people suffering from isolation and loneliness, extending her concern for vulnerable people from childhood into old age. The two helplines, aimed at opposite ends of life, stand as perhaps the clearest illustration of her approach: identify a gap in support, then build something to fill it.

In later life she became a prominent campaigner for the legalisation of assisted dying. She had been terminally ill with lung cancer, and in 2023 revealed she had joined Dignitas, the Swiss assisted dying clinic. Last month she said she was now "too physically fragile to make the journey". Her willingness to speak publicly about her illness and her choices gave the debate a human face at a moment when it was moving up the political agenda.

Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who sponsored the assisted dying bill, told the BBC that Dame Esther was a "wonderful mix of strength and feistiness, but also really deep compassion and kindness", and said she would continue to inspire campaigners. Baroness Jan Royall, former leader of the House of Lords and a friend of Dame Esther, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she was "formidable". She described an "extraordinary, compassionate woman, a passionate woman" who brought about change for the better, and added that Dame Esther had "a wicked sense of humour" and a "zest for life" that drove her work with Childline and The Silver Line, as well as the assisted dying bill.

Bill Buckley, her co-presenter on That's Life!, told the BBC's Radio 4 Front Row programme that "nothing would stop her" when it came to campaigning, saying she "saw the light at the end of the tunnel and followed it doggedly". That image of persistence recurred in almost every tribute. It explained how a consumer affairs presenter became a founder of national helplines, a campaigner on child welfare and loneliness, and, in her final years, a leading voice in one of the most sensitive debates in British public life.