Baroness who defied Gordon Brown

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The 53-year-old was born in Dominica, the 10th of 12 children, but moved to London aged three and was educated at Walthamstow School for Girls.

Armed with a law degree, she specialised in family and children's law and in 1991 became the first black woman to be a Queen's Counsel.

Tony Blair made her a peer in 1997, quickly appointing her as a Foreign Office junior minister.

Stints as a Home Office minister and law officer followed. She showed her mettle by defying Gordon Brown on 42-day detentions, which she privately opposed before the anti-terror proposal was finally abandoned.

In the case of the NatWest Three in 2005, an extradition case involving the bankers, she admitted that America required stronger evidence than Britain before it would hand over suspects, which seemed to contradict Mr Blair's assurance that there was a level playing field.

She married Richard Mawhinney in 1985. The couple have two sons.