Tributes to former Labour MSP Cathie Craigie who died after short illness

First Minister John Swinney has led tributes to former MSP Cathie Craigie following her death on Thursday.

The Scottish Labour MSP represented Cumbernauld and Kilsyth between 1999 and 2011.

In a social media post, Swinney said: "Very sorry to hear the sad news of the death of former Labour MSP Cathy Craigie. She was a kind and generous colleague. My condolences to her family."

She died on Thursday night following a short illness.

Scottish Labour's acting leader Jackie Baillie said: "Cathie Craigie served our party with distinction - both as a councillor and as an MSP.

"The thoughts of all at Scottish Labour are with her family, friends and former colleagues."

Former SNP MSP Alex Neil said: "Very sorry to hear that Cathie has died. She was a nice lady who was fearless in her determination to do all she could to help her constituents. My condolences to her family."

Craigie joined the Labour Party as a teenager.

She was a Cumbernauld and Kilsyth district councillor from 1984 to 1994 and was council leader from 1994 to 1996. She was then a North Lanarkshire councillor from 1996 to 1999.

She entered the first Scottish Parliament as a Labour MSP in 1999.

At Holyrood she served on the justice committee and the public audit committee.

During her time in parliament, she introduced the Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Bill – which offers certain protections to people at risk of having their homes repossessed.