Mo Mowlam dies in hospice

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam died today in a hospice, a family spokesman said.

Ms Mowlam, 55, who previously suffered a brain tumour, died at the Pilgrim’s Hospice in Canterbury, Kent, England at 8.10am.

Ms Mowlam had difficulties with her balance as a result of radiotherapy treatment for the tumour. Earlier this month she fell and banged her head and never regained consciousness.

She was taken to King’s College Hospital and was transferred last week to the hospice. She had earlier asked not to be resuscitated and in the last few days food and water were withdrawn.

Family representative Brian Basham said: “Mo Mowlam passed away today at 8.10 am. Her family wishes to thank the many well wishers who have sent cards, messages and flowers and to say that, although, the funeral will be a private family occasion, there will be a memorial event in a few months.

“The family requests that flowers are not sent and suggests that, as an alternative, friends might like to make a charitable donation to the Pilgrim’s Hospice, in 56 London Road, Canterbury, CT2 8JA.”

Her death comes less than two weeks after former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook died.

Ms Mowlam – one of New Labour’s most popular figures – stood down from the Commons at the 2001 general election after 14 years as an MP.

Her down-to-earth approach made her one of Britain’s best-known and best-liked politicians.

But despite her popularity, her political career eventually faded away – a fact she blamed on a whispering campaign allegedly mounted against her by some of her Cabinet colleagues.

She accused Downing Street of freezing her out and ignoring her and at times interfering in her ministerial duties.

But there was a school of thought which believed that she brought some of her troubles on herself through her uncompromisingly honest approach.

For most of her political life she was universally popular.

Disarmingly straightforward and open, she was widely applauded for her courage in refusing to allow treatment for a brain tumour to hamper her political career.

But her memoirs, entitled Momentum, published in May 2002, appeared to show her as a woman who felt she had been betrayed by her colleagues and who suspected that some fellow-ministers wanted her to be dumped out of office.

Some of her closest friends were saddened by some of her accusations, which they believed to be exaggerated.

The fact that she was an unorthodox minister may have endeared her to the outside world, but it did not always impress those she had to work with.

She was certainly never guilty of conforming, choosing to stroll around party conferences without shoes at times.

When treatment for a brain tumour caused her hair to fall out, she would sometimes take her wig off during talks or even press conferences, complaining that her head was itchy.

Marjorie Mowlam was born on September 18 1949. Her early life was tough. She nearly died of pneumonia at the age of three months and then her family, invariably short of cash, moved from Watford to Coventry, where she was brought up.

Her father, for whom she lost respect and who died in 1981, was an alcoholic, but she remained close to her mother.

Regarding her political career, Mowlam was in her kitchen when someone burst in and pleaded with her to fight the seat only five days before the 1987 election deadline, when the local MP decided to quit. She responded with alacrity.

She arrived at Westminster, aged 38, to embark on a career which, to her own genuine surprise, was to take her into the top echelons of government.

Mowlam was popular with Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair.

Her first Westminster job was as an assistant in the shadow Northern Ireland Office.

Then she became a spokeswoman on City and corporate affairs, where she took part in Labour’s famous “gin and tonic” charm offensive on the City of London.

Afterwards she took on “shadow” posts on women’s affairs, national heritage, and ultimately the North.

In 1995 she married merchant banker and Labour supporter Jon Norton.

“In politics,” she said, “being married means one less thing to worry about.”

She said once: “There are no guilt trips with him, since he is as committed as I am - though I do have to make sure he’s factored into the diary,” she added as an afterthought.

Shortly before the 1997 general election she suffered a severe blow: a brain tumour. It was treated successfully but she was forced for several years to wear a wig.

“I hate the bloody things and have to carry two around with me because I keep losing one,” she said.

She was made Northern Ireland Secretary after Labour’s 1997 election victory and set about her job and the quest for peace in the North with gusto.

One of her highest-profile moments came when she visited the infamous Maze Prison and spoke to both Loyalist and Republican prisoners.

It was on her watch that the early release of prisoners convicted of terrorist offences began, a consequence of the Good Friday Agreement.

During negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement, it became clear that Ms Mowlam was sidelined to an extent. She said herself that she was treated as little more than the tea lady.

Whatever her role in the negotiations, the Ulster Unionists thought she was too sympathetic to the Republican cause. When David Trimble, the then Ulster Unionist leader, demanded that she be removed from the job, Mr Blair did so with, some say, unfortunate speed.

Cynics suggested later that her removal may also have had something to do with events at the 1998 party conference.

When Mr Blair referred to her as “our Mo” during his speech, a prolonged standing ovation ensued.

As one contemporary commentator wrote: “No one upstages Superman and gets away with it.”

But Ms Mowlam was offered other posts, including the Health Secretary’s job, which she declined after a former Tory incumbent, Kenneth Clarke, told her it was a nightmare.

She also refused an invitation to be Labour’s candidate for the Mayor of London.

It began to some that she was cherry-picking which job she wanted.

Some were surprised that Tony Blair was so patient with her, especially as she was wont to go on TV chat shows and deliver risque jokes, a practice which many thought was demeaning for a Cabinet minister.

She eventually took what was considered a “non-job”, as Cabinet Office minister. Even here, she complained that 10 Downing Street kept interfering in her duties.

She decided, in the face of all this, to retire from Parliament before the 2001 general election.

Her book, published the following year, angered some of her former political colleagues.

She spoke of smear and whispering campaigns against her and claimed that Mr Blair and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, were at loggerheads.

“You could tell by the body language,” she said.

She also claimed that because of her illness some people were going round saying she was mad.

Her friends regarded it as a tragedy that her political career, which had held such promise, should have ended in acrimony.

After leaving Parliament, Ms Mowlam took on more writing and after-dinner speaking commitments, and continued to give interviews in the press until just a few weeks before her death.

She also founded the MoMo Helps charity for people in drug rehabilitation and the families of disabled people.