Nicola Sturgeon has paid tribute to former Labour MP Maria Fyfe at today's First Minister's Questions.

Responding to Richard Leonard, she said: "Can I take the opportunity to express my condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and all those in the Labour Party on the sad passing of Maria Fyfe.

"As Richard Leonard rightly said, Maria Fyfe was an inspiration to colleagues in the Labour Party. Can I say she wasn't just an inspiration to colleagues in the Labour Party?

"When I was a young woman starting out in politics, she was one of very few women in the frontline of politics and she was a feminist icon then that I looked up to and found her example inspirational and I think many of us, particularly women in politics today and of course many others, owe her a great debt of gratitude and I want to pass on my thoughts and condolences to everybody who loved her."

Maria, who was first elected for the Maryhill constituency in 1987, passed away this morning following a short illness.

She was well known across the labour and trade union movement as a “trail blazer” for women’s representation and was a passionate anti-poverty campaigner for areas across Glasgow.

Despite standing down in 2001, Maria continued to campaign and was the chair of the “Remember Mary Barbour” campaign which fought for a memorial to the rent strike organiser.

In a social media post, Maria’s family said: "She was part of the lives of so many people across the Labour Party and the wider labour movement as well as caring so much for her beloved city and her achievements make us all so proud."

Former leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn has paid tribute to her in a tweet this afternoon. 

Glasgow Labour group leader, councillor Malcolm Cunning paid tribute to Maria on Twitter this morning.

Campaigners also paid tribute to Maria, with Emma Ritch of Engender writing online: "So sorry to hear that Maria Fyfe has died. She was a bold feminist and a great activist for women’s political representation. The work of the 50-50 campaign she was so involved with has shaped @ScotParl."

Southsidegrrrl added: "Terribly sad news. I met Maria a few times and she was such a great champion of women and other causes I was involved in (like tackling homelessness). Regardless of party loyalties, let's pay tribute to Maria Fyfe."