INVERCLYDE'S MP has paid a moving tribute to his mentor and national icon Winnie Ewing who died having spent some of her later years in Kilmacolm.

Ronnie Cowan told how the pioneering politician - whose victory in the 1967 Hamilton by election changed the course of Scottish political history - gave him her backing when he chose to stand for election as an MP in 2015.

At the time the SNP grandee, who was elected to the UK, Scottish and European parliaments, lived in a care home in the village.

When Ronnie was first elected in 2015, Winnie became one of his constituents and he later visited her on her 90th birthday to wish her many happy returns.

The hugely respected national figure, who created a political dynasty, with her son and daughter also serving as MSPs, died last Wednesday aged 93.

MP Mr Cowan says she will be missed tremendously.

He said: "Winnie had a way with words. While seeking election in 2015 I sought her advice and she gave it to me in no uncertain terms.

"I have carried that advice with me for over eight years and it has stood me in good stead.

"In these times we refer to people as legends and icons when often we mean fleetingly famous.

"Winnie Ewing is a legend and an icon and an inspiration and a leader.

"I regret that we never achieved the ultimate goal of establishing Scotland as an independent sovereign nation in her lifetime.

"But by standing on the shoulders of giants such as Winnie, we can see that destination and we shall achieve it."

Winnie served as an MP, MEP and MSP and while officiating at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 she uttered the words “the Scottish Parliament adjourned on the 25th day of March, in the year 1707, is here-by reconvened".

Back in July 2019 Ronnie visited Winnie in her care home in Kilmacolm to wish her a happy 90th birthday.

Nearly four years on he recalled that visit as he paid tribute to her.

He told the Tele: "She was a titan, an inspiration, a leader and a trailblazer."

Lawyer Winnie was the first woman SNP MP and became a political hero to many within the independence movement.

Two of her children son Fergus and daughter Annabel are also MSPs.

After her by-election win in 1967 she famously declared 'stop the world - Scotland wants to get on."