Britain's former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, a colourful politician who played a pivotal role in the province's peace process, died in a hospice south of London on Friday. She was 55.
A popular and outspoken character, Mowlam served in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government for four years from 1997 after recovering from a brain tumour.
"Mo was surely one of the most remarkable and colourful personalities ever to come into politics. Great company, utterly irreverent, full of life and fun," Blair said in a statement.
"Yet behind that extraordinary front presented to the world was one of the shrewdest political minds I ever encountered."
Blair shifted her from Northern Ireland Secretary in 1999 to a lesser ministerial job.
Before stepping down from politics in 2001, she topped a poll as the public's choice to succeed him as prime minister.
In the run-up to the Labour party's 1997 election victory, Mowlam told just her husband and Blair about her condition, only going public when a newspaper commented on her weight gain and haggard appearance.
She had received a new course of radiotherapy treatment in recent months, which affected her balance. Earlier this month she fell and banged her head, never regaining consciousness.
A spokesman said her family said in a statement she died at 8.10 a.m. on Friday.
Source
A popular and outspoken character, Mowlam served in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government for four years from 1997 after recovering from a brain tumour.
"Mo was surely one of the most remarkable and colourful personalities ever to come into politics. Great company, utterly irreverent, full of life and fun," Blair said in a statement.
"Yet behind that extraordinary front presented to the world was one of the shrewdest political minds I ever encountered."
Blair shifted her from Northern Ireland Secretary in 1999 to a lesser ministerial job.
Before stepping down from politics in 2001, she topped a poll as the public's choice to succeed him as prime minister.
In the run-up to the Labour party's 1997 election victory, Mowlam told just her husband and Blair about her condition, only going public when a newspaper commented on her weight gain and haggard appearance.
She had received a new course of radiotherapy treatment in recent months, which affected her balance. Earlier this month she fell and banged her head, never regaining consciousness.
A spokesman said her family said in a statement she died at 8.10 a.m. on Friday.
Source