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During a political career stretching almost four decades, Dennis Canavan has remained a colourful and staunchly independent character.

A former school teacher, he served as Labour MP for West Stirlingshire and then Falkirk West for 26 years, during which he was unafraid to oppose his own party's policies where they conflicted his own deeply-held socialist beliefs.

A final break-up with his own party saw Canavan stand successfully as an independent candidate in the first session of the Scottish Parliament.
Retiring from party politics in 2007, Mr Canavan backed the SNP candidate for Falkirk in the 2010 general election, a portent of his role as chair of the Yes Campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.