Alice Mahon: Jeremy Corbyn, Holly Lynch and other dignitaries turn out to pay last respects to former Halifax MP

A celebration of the life of Alice Mahon, who was MP for Halifax for 18 years, took place at Halifax Minster this afternoon (Monday).

Among the crowds was former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who was good friends with Mrs Mahon and was invited to speak about her during the service.

Also there were current Halifax MP Holly Lynch, former MP for the Calder Valley Chris McCafferty, Leader of Calderdale Council Tim Swift, Chairman of Harveys of Halifax Roger Harvey and several current and former Caderdale councillors.

Vicar of Halifax The Rev Canon Hilary Barber welcomed people to the Minster before Alice’s son Kris Gledhill spoke.

Tributes were given by Mr Corbyn, Ms Lynch and Carol Turner from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

As a member of the Labour Party, Mrs Mahon was elected MP for Halifax four times and represented the area from 1987 to 2005.

Ms Lynch said Mrs Mahon was known as an MP who worked hard for her constituency.

Even after her time as MP, Mrs Mahon was still fighting for people’s rights, campaigning for sight-saving drugs for patients suffering from wet eye age-related macular degeneration.

Speaking outside before the service started, Mr Corbyn said they were “incredibly good friends” and Mrs Mahon had been a tireless campaigner for the working class, for unions and her community.

"We got on very well but she used to give me a hard time because she’d say ‘Jeremy, such a nice person as you, why don’t you drink and why don’t you eat meat?’

"We had different tastes but we were great friends and it’s a real honour to be invited by the family to say something about her today.”

Asked if we need more women like Mrs Mahon in Parliament, he said: “Yes, we need working class women who have worked in the service industry, health industry and so on who know what it’s like and never forget and speak up for those people.”