Scotland's former Health Secretary Jeane Freeman OBE has died just weeks after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
The 72-year-old died yesterday (Sat) morning at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital with her long-term partner Susan Stewart by her side.
The politician was most well-known for leading the country alongside former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the Covid-19 pandemic, appearing regularly on the daily televised briefings.
She became an MSP in 2016 and was put in charge of Scotland's new social security system before becoming Health Secretary in mid-2018.
One of her first major challenges in that role came within months as she sought to uncover problems with the QEUH, commissioning reviews and later a public inquiry into the scandal-hit hospital.
She gave candid evidence to the ongoing Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, as well as to the UK and Scottish Covid inquiries.
Ms Freeman was raised in Ayrshire with her two brothers and worked as a nurse after leaving school. She was politically active from a young age, first as a member of the Communist Party's student wing, then the Labour Party.
In 1987 she set up a social justice charity called Apex, for which she earned an OBE, before going to work as a special adviser in Jack McConnell's government in 2001.
It was not until after the 2014 independence referendum that she joined the SNP and represented Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley in Holyrood between 2016 and 2021.
Yesterday, her partner Ms Stewart praised the staff at the QEUH who cared for Ms Freeman at the end of her life.
She said: 'Jeane was given an unexpected diagnosis of incurable cancer on 13 January and we only had 25 days thereafter. Days which she faced with enormous courage, care for others and love for me.
'I wish to thank all the staff in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital whose professional skill, care and sensitivity were exceptional.
We were both very grateful, and also for the outpouring of love and concern from so many, across politics and beyond. Be kind to each other, that is what changes the world.
'Jeane and I were partners for over 25 years and I admired and supported her professional and public life. I am immensely proud of her, not least her latter volunteering at the Beatson Centre taking round the tea trolley, a job she loved.
'But it is the private Jeane - my soul mate and companion - who I will be forever grateful to have had in my life.
'She was my biggest supporter - constantly encouraging - and also fun, feisty and argumentative. My life has been the better for her love. And I will miss her terribly.'
Politicians from across the spectrum paid tribute to the 72-year-old yesterday, including First Minister John Swinney and her former boss Lord McConnell.
Mr Swinney said Ms Freeman 'devoted her life to serving the public, and I am shocked and saddened at her death.'
He added: 'In her long and varied career, Jeane always had people at her heart and had an unrelenting aim to improve people's lives. Working alongside her as a Minister, I was always struck by her strong belief in the power of compassion and a desire for people to be treated always with dignity fairness, and respect - values she put at the heart of Scotland's first social security system.'
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms Freeman appeared on the daily televised briefings
Ms Freeman was promoted to the position of health secretary in Nicola Sturgeon's government in 2018
'As Health Secretary during the Covid pandemic, she faced up to the biggest public health crisis Scotland has ever seen and steered a course through an immensely difficult time...I will miss her greatly, and my thoughts and deep condolences are with her partner Susan and wider family, and her many friends.'
Lord McConnell said Ms Freeman was 'one of the most formidable public figures of her generation' who was 'ferociously clever, fired by a strong sense of justice and an enduring commitment to public service'.
He said: 'Jeane Freeman was one of my oldest friends. From her time as a student leader when we first met to becoming Health Secretary during a global pandemic, she never flinched in the service of those she represented.
'She was renowned for her strong opinions and work ethic, but she was never more happy than when she was with her soulmate Susan.
Scottish public life is poorer without her and I will always miss her.'
Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also paid tribute to one of her closest friends.
She said: 'She was always there with a smile and a laugh, or a shoulder to cry on - whatever was needed. I loved her.
'I last saw Jeane yesterday afternoon and though it was clear she didn't have long left, she still wanted to know how I was... That was the measure of the woman.'
Trade union Unison Scotland said the former Health Secretary had a 'formidable understanding of the NHS'.
The body's health spokesman Matt McLaughlin said she was a 'tough negotiator but always wanted the best for NHS staff'.