Tributes to former Labour MP Jimmy Hood, aged 69

Tributes have been paid to former Labour MP and party stalwart Jimmy Hood, who has died aged 69.

Mr Hood held his seat in Parliament for 28 years, representing Clydesdale from 1987 to 2005, and Lanark and Hamilton East from 2005 to 2015, when he lost to the SNP.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard and former prime minister Gordon Brown led tributes to Mr Hood, a left-winger who was a mining engineer and trade unionist before his election.

Mr Leonard said: “I am deeply saddened to hear the news of my friend and comrade Jimmy Hood’s passing this morning.

“Before his election to Parliament, Jimmy was a National Union of Mineworkers official, leading the striking miners in the Nottinghamshire coalfield.

“He courageously stood up for jobs, communities and his class against the brutal policies of the Thatcher government.

“Jimmy took all that experience into frontline politics, serving the community in Lanark and Hamilton East, and in Clydesdale, for almost three decades. His hard work and dedication to those communities will never be forgotten.

“The Scottish Labour movement is in mourning today and on behalf of all of us, I pass on our sympathies to his wife Marion.”

Mr Brown said Mr Hood would be remembered as a stalwart of Scottish Labour, a “proud defender” of Lanarkshire and a “dedicated advocate of social justice”.

Andrew Hilland, Labour candidate for Mr Hood’s Lanark and Hamilton East seat in 2017, praised his personal qualities, as well as his political achievements.

“Jimmy Hood dedicated his life to socialism, trade unionism and to standing up for the people of Lanarkshire,” he said.

Mr Hood held his seat in Parliament for 28 years.