Sad news

My local Member of Parliament Patsy Calton, who I voted for earlier this month, has died. As reported by the BBC

Ms Calton won her seat with a majority of about 4,000 despite defeated Conservative MP Stephen Day trying to win it back.

She was unable to attend the count at Stockport Town Hall due to cancer treatment.

Liberal Democrats president Simon Hughes said: "This is a real tragedy, Patsy I've known for many years.

"I was born in the seat she came to represent, she had lived there for many years with her family.

"She became not just the MP for Cheadle... but she became a true community MP.

"In her last days, fighting against cancer, she refused to give in, she said 'other people have to fight, I'm not going to give in just because I'm a politician'."

He said there was "no greater recent model of political courage" than Ms Calton.

I knew she was seriously ill, even before the election. But her death still comes as a shock. I've only lived in Cheadle for a couple of years, but I gather she'd established a reputation as a very good constituency MP, who will be hard to replace.