- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday July 12 2000 13.02 BST
The prime minister, Tony Blair
"Robert Runcie was a warm, good, brave man and, though we sometimes differed, a friend for more than 50 years. I shall miss him."
Former prime minister Baroness Thatcher
"He will be remembered as a fine archbishop. He loved people very much indeed. He was a wonderful raconteur, a delightful man and we will all miss him enormously."
The present Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey
"What people did not often see was his enormous good humour. He was a witty, good-humoured man that got on with people easily."
Former hostage Terry Waite, Dr Runcie's special envoy
"The death of Lord Runcie is a sad loss, not only for the Anglican Communion, but also for all those who prize the goal of Christian unity"
Cardinal Thomas Winning, the leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics
"His death has taken from us a man who spoke with great moral authority and integrity that was recognised throughout the world."
The Conservative party leader, William Hague
"The whole country will mourn this good and gifted man who did so much towards religious reconciliation."
The Liberal Democrat party leader, Charles Kennedy
"Lord Runcie was a wise and gentle leader who was undervalued in an abrasive age. He contributed greatly to the improved relations between Christians and Jews. We will miss him and remember him."
The Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks
"He ensured the voice of the church was heard clearly on all sorts of public debates and sometimes his preaching of the Christian message, as in his sermon after the Falklands war, was uncompromising, more so than his public reputation would suggest."
The Rt Rev Graham James, Bishop of Norwich
"He loved people. He was at ease with sinners - he was not one of those puritanical, prudish Christians who put people off."
Bishop Richard Holloway, the Primus of the Episcopal Church in Scotland
"He possessed a wonderful wit and with it a great sense of proportion. He had a sense of the absurdity of things and was always amazed that he was Archbishop of Canterbury. At the same time, he had a deep sense of the responsibility of his office."
The Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Rev Mark Santer
"He was a friend of many people and a man of extraordinary wide sympathies. Far from being diminished by his retirement from the office of archbishop, the gold of his character could be seen ever more clearly in his last years."
The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres
