Labour MP Piara Khabra has died at the age of 82.
The Ealing Southall MP was the oldest in the Commons.
First elected in 1992, Khabra was one of a small number of black and Asian MPs.
A Punjabi Sikh, he served in the Indian Armed Corps during the Second World War before coming to Britain in 1959 and becoming a primary school teacher and chairman of the Indian Workers Association in Southall.
Khabra was also an ex-communist and member of the SDP for two years in the 1980s.
While a quiet and only occasional contributor in the Commons chamber, he served on the members' interests, international development and constitutional affairs select committees.
Labour Party chairman Hazel Blears said: "Piara was a stalwart of the Labour movement and a strong representative for his constituency.
"He will be sorely missed in his community, in Parliament and in the Labour Party."
And in the Commons Tony Blair said he was a "tireless campaigner, particularly on the issues of international development and racial equality."
The death will also spark the first by-election of the Gordon Brown era, an early challenge for the new Labour leader in a seat where the Liberal Democrats are likely to mount a robust challenge.
