Ex-Labour MP Alice Mahon dies aged 85

Tributes have been paid to the former Labour MP Alice Mahon who has died at the age of 85.

Ms Mahon, an outspoken left winger, represented Halifax in West Yorkshire for 18 years from 1987 to 2005.

In a statement to the Halifax Courier, the town’s current MP Holly Lynch said: “Alice Mahon always had a track record of fighting tirelessly for Halifax, and was much loved for it.

“She was a proud trade unionist and achieved a great deal both inside and outside of Parliament.

“My thoughts are very much with her family as I know she will be dearly missed as a mother and grandmother.”

During her time in Parliament, Ms Mahon was a fierce critic of the then leader and prime minister, Sir Tony Blair, and was bitterly opposed to the war in Iraq.

After standing down at the 2005 general election, she quit the party altogether in 2009 in protest at the tactics of Sir Tony’s successor, Gordon Brown.

Her fellow left winger and former party leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: “An utterly brilliant working-class campaigner, Alice was one of one of my best comrades in Parliament. I will miss her terribly.”

Current party leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Alice Mahon was a tireless champion for the people of Halifax. My thoughts are with her friends and family.”