Tributes have been paid to an “outstanding” former councillor who became London’s first deputy mayor.

Nicky Gavron, who served as Haringey councillor for Archway ward between 1986 and 2002, died at home at the age of 82 on August 30.

She served as deputy to London Mayor Ken Livingstone for seven years, with the current Mayor Sadiq Khan describing her work as “immeasurable”.

He added: “To me, she was not just a kind and generous friend, but also a teacher and a mentor.

“Her commitment to tackling climate change inspired many, and she pioneered many of the policies that have led London to be the world leader it is today.”

Tributes have poured in from people across the political spectrum after news of the former Labour politician’s death was announced.

Haringey Council leader Cllr Peray Ahmet said she was “devastated” to hear of her friend’s death.

She added: “We will miss Nicky and on behalf of the people of Haringey, send our sincerest condolences to her family.”

Conservative London Assembly Member Andrew Boff described her as a woman “strong enough to fight for what she believed in and brave enough to change her mind when the evidence demanded it”.

He added that her death was a “huge loss to London” and that he would “miss her greatly”.

Gavron, who lived in Highgate, had served as a London Assembly member between 2000 and 2021.

Among other achievements, the Labour politician helped to co-found the Jacksons Lane Arts Centre in Highgate in 1975.

Last year, she was celebrated at the centre with one of Highgate's ‘pink plaques’, which commemorate women who have made an important contribution to life in the area.

Gavron was born in Worcester in 1941 to a Jewish mother who had fled Nazi Germany.

She went on to study art history at the Courtauld Institute in London, before becoming involved in politics in the 1970s amid the campaign to stop the widening of the Archway Road.

She was the leader of the London Planning Advisory Committee from 1994 until it was absorbed into the Greater London Authority. As deputy mayor, Gavron developed the inaugural London plan, the Mayor’s capital-wide planning blueprint.

She was elected London Assembly member for Enfield and Haringey in the 2000 London Assembly election.

Despite having been selected as Labour's mayoral candidate for the 2004 elections, she stepped aside when Ken Livingstone was readmitted to the party and was re-elected as a London-wide Labour Assembly member on the party list.

Gavron stood unsuccessfully for the Barnet and Camden London Assembly seat in the 2008 GLA elections against Conservative Brian Coleman, but increased the Labour share of the vote in the constituency and was re-elected to the Assembly on the London-wide list.

Gavron was predeceased by her stepson Simon and is survived by her two daughters Sarah and Jessica, stepson Jeremy, and godson Cato, as well as 10 grandchildren.