I agree with all that, and I'd add that he was an effective champion of parliamentary democracy as well during a time when party leaders were often trying to sidestep parliament (on that score, good old Gina Miller too). Always on the side of MPs. I've seen no evidence that his personal views have ever corrupted his dealings in the House, despite what brexiteers like to claim about his bias (which they never back up with examples, I notice).

His rather short stature (to say the least) makes it difficult to characterise him as a towering figure. :-) The old story is that he went out into the car park outside Parliament to find that someone had dinged his car and driven off. Scrutinising the damage, he said "I'm not happy." His colleague replied, "Which one are you then?"