His Newark constituency was particularly affected by the Tory policy of pit closures and Mr Alexander voted no fewer than six times against the Government on this issue.

Although an extremely able backbencher, he never became a Minister, probably because of his opposition to this policy.

Mr Alexander was, however, a staunch supporter of the Thatcher Government on defence issues. He described Tony Benn's approach to the Falklands war as a "prima facie case of treason and sedition".

And in 1984 he criticised the dress sense of Labour militants in the Commons, denouncing their "leather jackets with dark glasses and open-neck shirts".

Born in Aberdeen in 1934, Richard Thain Alexander was educated at Dewsbury Grammar School and University College London where he read law.

A well-known solicitor in the Midlands, he had a long history of local government activity, serving as Mayor of Retford in 1977-78.

Mr Alexander won the Newark seat from Labour in 1979 but lost it in the 1997 Labour landslide.

As a backbench MP he campaigned against the importing of coal for local power stations via the Humber ports.

After Michael Heseltine announced 31 pit closures in October 1992, Mr Alexander spoke of a "wave of anger" in mining communities and accused British Coal of shutting down potentially profitable mines.

He was also the MP who famously took Edwina Currie to task when the Agriculture Select Committee questioned the former Health Minister about her inappropriate remarks about salmonella in eggs.

When Mrs Currie said she was no longer a Minister, and should therefore be immune from further scrutiny, he replied: "You were then."

After losing his seat, Mr Alexander remained loyal to his local roots and became a member of Newark and Sherwood District Council. He was chairman in 2005-06.

The current Newark MP Patrick Mercer paid tribute, saying: "Richard Alexander has been a very difficult act to follow. He has been an assiduous constituency member who taught me that above and beyond everything else, the views of the constituents matter most," he said.

"The greatest tribute I can pay to him is that he is held in high regard across the political divide."

Mr Alexander leaves a widow and a son and daughter from a former marriage.