Tributes are flooding in for Harry Harpham, the Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, after passing away from cancer at age 61.

Harpham was elected for the first time last year, having worked as a miner – and being a stalwart of the miners’ strike in the 1980s – and later became deputy leader of Sheffield City Council.

He made his final contribution in Parliament at PMQs just a fortnight ago, blasting the Government for only offering “warm words, hand-wringing and some crocodile tears” over a “tsunami of losses in the steel industry”.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn paid his respects to Harpham, saying:

“The news of the death of Harry Harpham is extremely sad and I send my deepest condolences to his family.

“Harry was a proud socialist who had also been a proud miner.

“He was dedicated to justice for working people and despite the undoubted hardship that his support for the miners’ strike would have caused him, as it did many thousands of miners, Harry recently told me he would have done it all again.

“Harry was able to use his background and experience in energy to serve Labour in the Shadow Department for Energy and Climate Change and I was proud that he agreed to serve in our team.

“To the very end he was fighting for working people in parliament. What a decent man he was and he will be sadly missed by all his friends in the Labour Party.”

Deputy leader Tom Watson said:

“A former miner – maybe the final deep coal miner ever to enter parliament – Harry was fiercely proud of his union roots. He was an NUM man throughout the miners’ strike and stood firm for a full year at his Nottinghamshire pit even though many others crossed the picket line, something Harry would never have done. He put his background in energy to good use when he was promoted to the role of Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary.

“Harry’s final contribution in parliament was just a fortnight ago. In typically blunt fashion he took the Prime Minister to task for ‘warm words, hand wringing and some crocodile tears’ when it came to local job losses at Forgemasters and the future of our city’s iconic steel industry. To the very last, he was passionate about Sheffield.”

Other Labour figures have also been paying their respects:

So sorry to hear of the death of Harry Harpham. A truly decent, principled man who showed enormous courage in the face of his illness. — Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) February 5, 2016

"Working people have never been handed change, we've had to fight for it." The words of Harry Harpham – a lovely man gone far too soon. RIP. — Hilary Benn (@hilarybennmp) February 5, 2016

Harry was a great friend, a life-long fighter for working people & truly salt-of-the-earth. Proud to have known him. https://t.co/VkDxak6IAU — Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) February 5, 2016