Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has joined others in paying his respects to Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heighman who has died aged 77 after a long illness.

In a Tweet Mr Corbyn said he was 'very sad to hear of the passing of Baroness Hollis': 'My condolences are with her partner Alan and all the family.

'Patricia was a champion for the people of Norfolk, was vital to stopping the 2015 tax credit cuts and a tireless campaigner for good quality housing for all.'

Baroness Hollis was a lecturer in modern history, reader and dean at the University of East Anglia (UEA) from 1967 to 1990.

She was heavily involved in local politics, serving on Norwich City Council from 1968 to 1991, and leading the council from 1983 to 1988.

She was the Labour parliamentary candidate for Great Yarmouth in 1974, and again in 1979, and was a Norfolk county councillor from 1978 to 1982.

In 1990 she was made a life peer as Baroness Hollis of Heigham, and was an opposition whip in the House of Lords between 1990 and 1995.

She was parliamentary undersecretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions from May 2001 to 2005.

Baroness Hollis was also a deputy lieutenant of Norfolk.