Margaret McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, has died at the age of 61

The politician sat in the House of Lords as Baroness McDonagh.

She was the sister of Siobhain McDonagh, the Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden.

A tribute has described her as a “tireless champion for women” and one who paid an essential role as a co-ordinator in the party’s 1997 general election victory.

She was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2021.