Candy Atherton, a former Falmouth MP and tireless social campaigner who helped bring many changes to the town and to Cornwall, has died at the age of 62.

Flags were at half mast at County Hall on Tuesday, and friends and colleagues, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as well as politicians from all parties, paid tribute to Ms Atherton.

The Labour Party reported that Ms Atherton, a "tireless campaigner for Cornwall and huge personality" died suddenly on Monday with her husband Brod Ross at her bedside, after "losing her battle with the illnesses that she had fought for decades."

Mr Corbyn said he was sad to hear of Ms Atherton's death, calling her a "warm person and a tireless campaigner for social justice," and "a proud champion of Cornwall."

He added: "I knew Candy for many years and remember her time as Mayor of Islington with great affection. She had a disarming sense of humour; I remember her joking that when she won her seat in 1997, she had outrun the incumbent MP and Olympian Seb Coe.

"I saw her most recently this summer, when we shared a platform at a wonderful rally for the NHS in Heartlands, Cornwall. Our thoughts are with her family and friends."

Falmouth's mayor, Grenville Chappel, told the Packet: "Candy was a great, great stalwart for Falmouth and her work as a Cornwall Councillor and a town councillor over the last few years has been amazing.

"It’s just been fantastic the work she’s done, irrespective of the political party you were from.

"I got to know Candy when she was an MP. Since she got to the town council I found she was a charming lady with the concerns of Falmouth and the people of Falmouth in her heart. She will be sorely missed as a friend as well as a councillor."

Ms Atherton worked as a journalist from 1980, and was very active on behalf of women's rights. She was a Labour councillor in Islington from 1986 to 1992, including a stint as mayor from 1989 to 1990.

She was elected as MP for Falmouth and Camborne in 1997 and held the seat until 2005, but maintained a leading role in the constituency Labour Party and in 2013 was elected to Cornwall Council and Falmouth Town Council as representative for Smithick ward.

During her time in Cornish politics she was instrumental in many changes, including winning Objective 1 EU funding for Cornwall, and spearheading the campaign for a university in Cornwall, although more recently she argued against rises to the student cap at the Penryn Campus. She also led the campaign for Article 4 direction for Falmouth, which came into effect this summer and requires planning permission for new houses of multiple occupation in the town, and she was instrumental - as a town councillor and chair of the finance committee - in the devolution of local services from Cornwall to Falmouth.

The Labour Party said Ms Atherton also tackled Tony Blair about the "dire" Cornish economy, persuading him to separate the county's statistics from those of Devon. 

The party also recalled her strong support for women in politics, and said she was a "feisty campaigner on health issues" and "vocal in challenging the inadequacies of... plans for Cornwall’s NHS," and this summer she shared a platform with Mr Corbyn when he visited Cornwall to campaign for the county's health service.

Ms Atherton had been in Milton Keynes when she died, as she was attending a conference for local government organisation NALC, alongside Falmouth town clerk Mark Williams.

Mer Williams received an award at the ceremony, which Ms Atherton had nominated him for.