Brian Paddick, 64, reveals sudden death of his ‘beautiful, loving’ husband at their Oslo home

A ‘devastated’ British politician and former I’m A Celebrity contestant has revealed the sudden death of his husband at their Oslo home.

Brian Paddick, 64, a Liberal Democrat peer, former London mayor candidate and also the Deputy Assistant Commissioner in London’s Metropolitan Police Service until his retirement in 2007, announced the death of Petter Belsvik on Monday.

He said the cause of his husband’s death was not ‘immediately apparent’ and that it would ‘take some time to establish what happened’.

‘My beautiful, loving husband, Petter Belsvik, has died suddenly at our home in Oslo,’ Lord Paddick wrote in a message to his followers on Twitter on Monday.

‘He was found peacefully alone, with no cause of death immediately apparent. It will take some time to establish what happened. We were devoted to each other & I am devastated,’ he added.

His Twitter announcement was met with a flood of well-wishes, tributes and condolences.

Brian Paddick (right), 64, a Liberal Democrat who was also the Deputy Assistant Commissioner in London’s Metropolitan Police Service until his retirement in 2007, announced the death of Petter Belsvik (shown left) on Monday. He said Mr Belsvik died at their Oslo home

Lord Paddick (shown right in both photos) said the cause of his husband’s death was not ‘immediately apparent’ and that it would ‘take some time to establish what happened’

Broadcaster Kay Burley wrote: ‘My dear Brian, this is truly tragic news. All my thoughts are with you. Stay strong xxx.’

Peer and Conservative politician Lord Bethell tweeted in response: ‘how horrible! I am so sorry. Lots of prayers and good vibes to you.’ 

And former BBC Home Affairs correspondent and journalist Danny Shaw wrote: ‘So sorry to hear that Brian. What a terrible shock. Thinking of you.’

It is understood that Mr Belsvik was a civil engineer from Oslo. The pair met in a bar while on holiday in Ibiza, and got married a few years later in Norway in 2009.

Same-sex marriage had been legalised in the country eight days earlier, and their marriage was among the first high-profile unions to be sealed following the legislation’s introduction.

In a 2008 article for the Daily Mail, Paddick told the story of how the pair first met, and described Belsvik as ‘a wonderful man: intelligent and witty but with a calm nature that is the perfect counterpoint to my volatility. He is very easy to love’.

‘I was minding my own business on holiday in Ibiza when I met Petter. Inevitably, it was my last day and having spent just 24 hours together we parted with me believing I would never see him again.

‘But then there came divine intervention – well, not quite: it was Madonna. She was playing at Wembley Arena in London and my Norwegian holiday romance was coming to see her.

‘In a rash moment, I suggested he could save the cost of a hotel by staying with me. It was a gamble but it proved the most wonderful weekend I had ever spent with anyone.’

Will-wishes and condolences flooded in following Paddick’s tragic Twitter post

FILE: Brian Paddick and Partner Petter Belsvik ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ TV Programme, Australia – 02 Dec 2008

FILE: Brian Paddick, Liberal Democrat MP, and husband Petter Belsvik (who married in Norway) at the Pride London gay pride parade Gay Pride Parade 2013

The late Petter Belsvik is pictured alongside his husband Brian Paddick

Lord Paddick was a contestant in the eight series of ITV1’s reality TV show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, which was broadcast in 2008.

The pair were pictured embracing and kissing after Paddick left the jungle.

Speaking in 2010 as part of the Liberal Democrat debate about equal marriage in the UK, Paddick said that the ‘real impact of [marriage rather than a civil partnership], the symbolism of it, the importance of it, didn’t really strike me until we stood in front of the judge in the courthouse in Oslo, and she said… we’re here today to witness the marriage of Brian and Petter. 

‘And that was an intensely moving experience. We really feel, my husband and I, that we are really equal because we are married,’ he said at the time.

Paddick, who was granted a peerage in September 2013, served in the police force for more than 30 years before retiring in May 2007 from his role as the Met police’s deputy assistant commissioner.

He was responsible for a number of changes in policing priorities and methods in London, making a particular splash in the early 2000s when, in his role as police commander for Lambeth, instructed police officers to stop arresting people on minor cannabis possession charges to free up police resource for more impactful crimes.

He went on to run as the Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor in 2008 and 2012, losing out to Boris Johnson, and later became a champion for diversity in leadership.

In the wake of the harrowing revelations over former officer David Carrick, who recently admitted to a string of rapes and sexual abuse charges, Paddick last month penned an article in The Mail on Sunday, alleging high-ranking members of the Met police would protect violent and racist officers he had reprimanded or dismissed.