Sunday 25 September 2022 02:23 AM Neil Kinnock's children reveal toll of Alzheimer's after mother Glenys, 78, was ... trends now

The children of former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock have shared the heart-breaking toll of 'losing a little bit of the person you love every day' in a searingly honest account of how Alzheimer's has affected their mother Glenys.

Rachel, 51, and Stephen Kinnock, 52, have described the 'slow grief' of watching their mother's decline since she was given the news five years ago, in a column for The Sunday Times.

The 78-year-old was an MEP for Wales, from 1994 to 2009, and under Gordon Brown briefly served as Minister for State for Europe, before becoming Minister of State for Africa and the United Nations.

But from a high-powered career in politics and as the supportive wife of Neil, who was leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992, Baroness Kinnock was left 'mortified' as her memory gradually began to slip away.

Her children describe how the keen baker was left unable to make a birthday cake for her grandchildren, something she had taken a 'particular pride' in being able to do for them.

They also observe how Neil, 80, her loving husband of 55 years, might not be the one with the disease but is still the one who 'suffers' in watching Glenys' decline.

Much of her personality remains, they say - the cheeky, mischievous and fun side of their adored mother. 

But so too do they acknowledge how Alzheimer's has robbed them of the woman they once knew.

They write:  'Our family are witness to the day-to-day cruelty of this disease, but the most painful thing is how much we miss her. 

'She's in the same room but we can't talk or get through to her. 

'She's gone, but she's standing right there.'