Dame Esther Rantzen remembered as 'inspirational' broadcaster and campaigner after death at 86

Dame Esther Rantzen, the veteran British broadcaster who founded the children's helpline Childline, has died at the age of 86, prompting an outpouring of tributes from across public life.

The director of Childline said Dame Esther was "an inspirational individual" who was "quite a force" as a campaigner. Shaun Friel told BBC Breakfast that she "inspired people, she energised people, she persuaded people," adding that she possessed "a great mind" and "that natural journalistic ability".

Dame Esther was best known for presenting the BBC consumer affairs programme That's Life! for 21 years, a role that made her a household name and demonstrated her skill at mixing serious investigative journalism with light entertainment. She later became one of Britain's most prominent campaigners on issues including child welfare, organ donation, bullying and assisted dying.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham led the political tributes, saying the veteran broadcaster had "changed countless lives". He also 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".

BBC director general Matt Brittin described Dame Esther as a "legend of British broadcasting" whose contribution to public life was "immeasurable". He said her "warmth, spirit and fight for justice and action that we saw on our screens continued long after the programme ended, with a lifetime of campaigning where she changed the lives of millions".

Fellow broadcaster and money saving expert Martin Lewis called Dame Esther an "inspiration" and a "pioneer", saying her "impact and memory will long continue to shine". The reaction reflected how widely her influence extended beyond television into the everyday lives of people who had never met her.

Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the NSPCC, which now runs Childline, said Dame Esther had gone to "exceptional lengths to ensure children and young people across the UK had somewhere to turn when they were in need of help". That assessment captures the scale of the organisation she built from a single idea into a national safety net.

Dame Esther set up the telephone helpline in 1986 after featuring a number of incidents of child abuse and neglect on That's Life! and realising that many children had nowhere to turn. The move transformed how the country responded to the abuse of young people, turning a television item into permanent, confidential support for those in distress.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Friel said the legacy Dame Esther created when she founded Childline was "something quite incredible", and that "she changed how society looked upon children". He added that when she decided she had a vision, or that something had to be done or changed, "she was quite a force". Childline later merged with the NSPCC in 2006.

Her campaigning did not stop with children. In 2013, Dame Esther founded The Silver Line to help older people suffering from isolation and loneliness, extending her concern for the vulnerable into a different stage of life. She also led campaigns on safety, organ donation and bullying, and later became a prominent voice calling for the legalisation of assisted dying.

Dame Esther had been terminally ill with lung cancer. In 2023, she revealed she had joined Dignitas, the Swiss assisted dying clinic, but last month said she was now "too physically fragile to make the journey". Her decision to speak openly about her diagnosis and her choices made her a central figure in a debate that continues to divide parliament and the public.

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 that 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 a "formidable" person, an "extraordinary, compassionate woman" who "brought about such change in our world, change for the better". The baroness added that she had "a wicked sense of humour" and a "zest for life"-qualities that drove her to improve people's lives through projects such as Childline and The Silver Line, as well as the assisted dying campaign.

Colleagues from her television career also paid their respects. Bill Buckley, her co-presenter on That's Life!, told Radio 4's Front Row that "nothing would stop her" when it came to campaigning. "She saw the light at the end of the tunnel and followed it doggedly," he said. That's Life! attracted more than 20 million viewers at its peak, giving her an unusually large platform, which she used to pursue causes rather than simply to build her own profile.

Dame Elaine Paige, known for roles in West End productions such as Cats and Evita, called her a "great broadcaster, journalist and campaigner", noting that Childline "helped so many children" and that The Silver Line served older people facing loneliness and isolation. Anton Du Beke, her partner on Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, shared a photograph of the pair dancing together and wrote that they had "remained firm friends" ever since. He praised her "breadth of knowledge and passion" and called her "the ultimate breaker of the glass ceiling".

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", alongside a video in which she described Dame Esther as an "inspiration to girls like me when we were growing up". Presenter Amol Rajan said she "changed the course of millions of lives" and described her as "an inspirational, strong woman ahead of her time". The breadth of the tributes, from prime ministers and peers to presenters and campaigners, underlined a career that moved repeatedly between entertainment and public service, and a legacy measured less in awards than in the lives she helped to protect.