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MP Gwyneth Dunwoody dies aged 77 | MP Gwyneth Dunwoody dies aged 77 |
(31 minutes later) | |
Veteran Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody - the longest-serving female MP in Parliament - has died at the age of 77. | |
Mrs Dunwoody, MP for Crewe and Nantwich since 1974, had been ill for the past week, her son said. | |
Gordon Brown described her as "politics at its best" and said she would be sadly missed. | |
As well as chairing the transport select committee, Ms Dunwoody was known as a prominent and much admired fighter for backbenchers' rights. | As well as chairing the transport select committee, Ms Dunwoody was known as a prominent and much admired fighter for backbenchers' rights. |
Leading the tributes, the prime minister said: "So many people will be so sad to hear of the death of Gwyneth Dunwoody. | |
"She was always her own person. She was fiercely independent." | |
'Wonderful mother' | |
Ms Dunwoody's son David described his mother as a wonderful mother and grandmother. | |
He told the BBC that she had died "in a gentle and calm way" on Thursday evening after being ill for about a week. | |
She was an independent-minded woman who always spoke her mind and will be badly missed Tony Benn | |
He said: "She was a women who stood up and said what she believed was true. She defended people who didn't have anyone else to defend them. | |
"Everybody who knew her knew she believed passionately in everything that she did." | |
Former Labour MP Tony Benn said he was shocked by the news. | |
He said: "She was an independent-minded woman who always spoke her mind and will be badly missed. | |
"She was a very remarkable woman and a very powerful Member of Parliament. She was very strong on certain questions. She took a very independent stance on the European Union and was respected by the House. | |
"She was listened to with great attention from the House itself." |