David Hencke, a former Guardian journalist, died on a Friday at the age of 79 due to liver cancer. He had been working on a story one week prior to his death.

Hencke joined the Guardian as a reporter in 1976 and served as its Westminster correspondent until 2009, working for the publication for more than 30 years. During his career, he was responsible for exposing political scandals, including the cash-for-questions affair and Peter Mandelson's secret home loan.

The cash-for-questions scandal resulted in the resignations of Conservative ministers Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith. Tim Smith stepped down from his position as an MP, and Neil Hamilton was defeated in an election by Martin Bell, who ran on an anti-corruption platform.

Hencke also revealed Peter Mandelson's undisclosed £373,000 home loan from Geoffrey Robinson, which Mandelson used to purchase a £475,000 home in Notting Hill. This revelation led to Mandelson's first resignation from government.

In recognition of his work, Hencke was named reporter of the year in 1994 and won scoop of the year in 1998. He co-authored three books with journalist Francis Beckett.

Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said, "David Hencke was a true Fleet Street legend." She added, "He worked for the Guardian for more than 30 years and was responsible for breaking some of the biggest political stories of the time." Viner stated that Hencke became the "most feared journalist in Westminster because of his acute nose for political scandal and wrongdoing."

Francis Beckett noted, "David discovered early in life something he loved doing and was very good at." Beckett added, "And he was a lucky man; he was able to do it for all of his working life." Beckett said, "And what he loved was finding things out that rich and powerful people didn't want us to know, and telling us." He also said, "Working with him on the three books we did together, I saw regularly the excitement it gave him to find something that was genuinely new, that somebody powerful had tried to hide, and put it in the book." Beckett described Hencke as looking and sounding "completely harmless." He said, "If I had been a politician with a secret and I had looked at David, I can perfectly well imagine I would have confided in him."