Bill Richardson, former New Mexico governor, dies aged 75

Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has died aged 75, according to a statement from his representatives.

Mr Richardson was a former Energy Secretary and UN ambassador during former President Bill Clinton's administration. He died on Friday, according to the Richardson Centre for Global Engagement.

Mr Richardson reportedly died in his sleep, according to CNN.

Mickey Bergman, the vice president of the centre, remembered its namesake as a man who dedicated his entire life to service.

“He lived his entire life in the service of others – including both his time in government and his subsequent career helping to free people held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. There was no person that Governor Richardson would not speak with if it held the promise of returning a person to freedom,” Mr Bergman said.

He said the world lost a "champion," and that he "lost a mentor and a dear friend."

Mr Richardson was first elected to the US House in 1983, and then later served as an ambassador and in Mr Clinton’s cabinet.

In 2002 he launched a sucessful bid for the New Mexico governor’s seat. He served two terms and left office in 2011.

Mr Richardson set his political ambitions high; he ran for the presidency in 2008, but lost. He later launched the Richardson Centre for Global Engagement, an international peace nonprofit founded in 2011.