Politicians from all sides pay tribute to f irst MSP McCabe
POLITICIANS of all parties gathered yesterday to pay their final respects to former Labour MSP Tom McCabe.
Mr McCabe, who made history by becoming the first person elected to the Scottish parliament when it was established in 1999, died earlier this month at the age of 60, after a long battle with cancer.
His funeral was held at St Mary’s Church in his home town of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, and was attended by more than 350 mourners, including politicians from both Holyrood and Westminster.
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined a congregation that included Labour peer Lord George Robertson and Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
Lib Dem MSP Tavish Scott, Tory MSP Margaret Mitchell, shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran and Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy also attended the service – as did former First Minister Henry McLeish and Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council.
Mr McCabe had a six-year- old daughter Ava by second wife Shuming and a daughter, Paula, and son, Mark, from his first marriage. During an emotional service, Ava read a poem titled ‘I love you, Dad’.
Mr Matheson told mourners: ‘Tom McCabe earned respect across the political divide, which is reflected by the tributes since his death and the attendance today.’
Following Mr McCabe’s death, his widow, a Chinese former television reporter whom he wed in 2006, said: ‘Tom was loved dearly by his family and many friends and will be missed terribly by all.’
In the inaugural Scottish parliament election in 1999, Mr McCabe became the first MSP when Hamilton South declared only 75 minutes after the polls closed.
He held the seat for 12 years and served as a minister for parliamentary business, health and community care, and finance. He lost his seat in the 2011 SNP landslide.