Glasgow SNP councillor Allison Hunter has died.
The former Glasgow SNP group leader passed away last night after a long battle with non Hodgkins lymphoma.
She was a long standing SNP member with more than 40 years experience and served as election agent to Jim Sillars in his 1988 by election victory in Govan.
She became a councillor for the Govan ward in 2007 and served for six years and as group leader for a period after her predecessor James Dornan became an MSP.
Tributes were paid by First Minister Alex Salmond and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Mr Salmond said: ""Allison Hunter was a party stalwart and much-loved person - her contribution over a period of many years was immense, and she was at the heart of some of the SNP's most successful and important campaigns.
"As the party's full-time National Organiser, Allison built the operation which went on to achieve such spectacular results across Scotland, and since 2007 she served her beloved city of Glasgow as a councillor with dedication and distinction.
"Allison will be sorely missed, not just by her countless friends in the SNP but right across the political spectrum.
"My deepest condolences go to Allison's husband Ian; children Mhairi, Fiona and Roy; and grandchildren Kathleen and Andrew."
Ms Sturgeon said: "Allison fought her illness bravely to the end, and my thoughts are with Ian, Mhairi, Fiona and Roy at this desperately sad time.
"Alison's contribution to the national success the SNP has enjoyed in recent years cannot be overstated. As National Organiser, she trained and mentored so many of us who are now MSPs, councillors and organisers.
"Allison's leadership of Glasgow SNP in the 2012 local elections was absolutely exemplary, and it is a measure of her dedication to the cause she loved that she took on this responsibility despite the health challenges she had already faced.
"I personally owe Allison an enormous debt of gratitude. She was a constant source of advice and support.
"It is no exaggeration to say that I would not have won Govan in 2007 without the guidance of Allison as my election agent. It was a source of great pride to all of us in Govan SNP that, having also served as agent to Jim Sillars in the 1988 by-election, she was elected as councillor for Govan in 2007. Allison was a first class councillor and her constituents will miss her dearly.
"I will miss Allison as a friend, colleague, mentor, election agent and much-loved convener of the Glasgow Southside SNP Constituency Association."
Hunter is survived by her husband Ian, her sister Anne, her children Fiona, Mhairi and Roy and her grandchildren Kathleen and Andrew.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article