UK Parliament Member Paul Flynn Dies at Age 84 - Reports

Veteran UK Labour MP Paul Flynn had been ill and said in October 2018 he would resign after more than 30 years in the British parliament, The Huffington Post reported Sunday.

The Newport West Labour confirmed Sunday the death of the UK lawmaker, asking to respect the privacy of Flynn's family at "this difficult time".

It's with great sadness that we let you know that our MP, Paul Flynn, has died today. Paul is a hero to many of us in the Newport Labour family and we mourn for his family's loss. We would ask that the privacy of Paul's family is respected at this difficult time.

— Newport West Labour (@nptwestlab) 17 февраля 2019 г.

UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn stressed that Flynn would be "greatly missed".

I’m very sad at the passing of my good friend Paul Flynn. He had such love for Newport, knowledge of radical South Wales history and a dry wit. He was an independent thinker who was a credit to the Labour Party. He will be greatly missed.

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) 17 февраля 2019 г.

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The left-leaning Labour Party, one of Britain’s leading political parties, was created at a founding conference in late February 1900, following the consolidation of some 70 organizations, including the Independent Labour Party, the Fabian Society and the Social Democratic Federation.

Labour Party members joined England's government for the first time during World War One. The party’s influence grew significantly between the two 20th-century world wars. The Labour Party first secured a parliamentary majority in the elections of 1945.

Historically, Labour’s ideological values were cooperation, commitment to stand up for the interests of workers and trade unions, publicly-funded healthcare and education systems, promotion of government-funded housing programs and the nationalization of key industries including rail.

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In 1994, the party got a new leader, Tony Blair, and its ideology changed, giving way to a new term, New Labour. Blair led his party to victory in the elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005.

On September 25, 2010, Edward Miliband was elected leader of the party.

In 2015, Labour’s general election manifesto declared that "we are a great country, but we can be even better." The manifesto pledged to defend the financial security of working Britons. Labour lost the parliamentary election in 2015. The party got about 31 percent of the vote, ending up with fewer seats in Parliament than before.

Jeremy Corbyn was elected the new leader of the Labour Party, following Miliband's resignation.