Tributes paid to ‘courageous, fearless, principled’ Labour MP Ann Clwyd

Ann Clwyd campaigned over the plight of Iraqi Kurds and was a leading figure in the Labour party. Photograph: Tim Ocenden/PA

Labour leaders past and present have led the tributes to the long-standing former MP Ann Clwyd after it was announced that she had died at the age of 86.

Clwyd represented her Cynon Valley constituency in South Wales for 35 years, eventually becoming the oldest woman to sit in the House of Commons before she stood down at the 2019 election. Clwyd was first elected in a byelection in 1984 and had already served as an MEP for Mid and West Wales for five years in the European parliament.