Former Prime Minister Brown and Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney were among hundreds of mourners who paid their last respects to Labour’s Tom McCabe, who was Scotland’s first MSP to be elected.
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, former deputy first minister Lord Wallace and Lord Robertson, who served as UK defence secretary and secretary-general of Nato, were some of the other high-profile politicians who joined the congregation in Hamilton.
Mr McCabe’s Hamilton South constituency was the first to declare just over an hour after polls closed at the historic 1999 Scottish Parliament election, giving him a place in Scottish political history as the first-ever MSP.
The service recalled 60-year-old Mr McCabe’s political career, which also saw him serve as Labour chief whip at Holyrood and finance minister.
But there was also a touching tribute from his six-year-old daughter Ava, who read a poem for her father as part of the service at St Mary’s Church.
The youngster said: “I love you, dad, with all my heart and hate that we should be apart.
“Our love is a bond that can’t be broken. You may be gone but never forgotten.”
Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, also shared some of his memories of Mr McCabe, who lost his battle with cancer on Sunday.
Mr Matheson said: “He made a difference during his life that very few people could ever hope to, and was esteemed by those who knew him.
“Throughout his life he served the people of the town and county where he was born, lived and died.”