Andrew Slorance was a civil servant in charge of the Scottish government’s planning and response to crisis situations – including the coronavirus pandemic.

He grew up in Hawick and became a journalist before joining the Scotland Office. He led the new Scottish Parliament’s media team when it opened in 1999, then became the official spokesman for First Minister Alex Salmond.

A father-of-five, he was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma in 2015. He documented his experience of the rare cancer – including six rounds of chemotherapy – in a blog he called “The fight of my life”, external.

He relapsed in 2019 and a stem cell transplant scheduled for Easter 2020 was delayed by Covid. While shielding at home in Edinburgh, he spent the first part of the pandemic working on the government’s response from a spare room.

Mr Slorance was finally admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow for his stem cell transplant in October. He tested positive for Covid shortly after that and died on 5 December, aged 49.

Tributes from across the political spectrum, including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, external, have been paid to Mr Slorance. His wife, Louise, told BBC Scotland: “He was a proud family man who was the life and soul of any party, loving and loyal.”