BARONESS TRUMPINGTON Politician

Baroness Trumpington, a Bletchley Park codebreaker famed for flicking two fingers up at a fellow Tory peer, died in the UK on November 26, aged 96.

Lady Trumpington only bowed out from the House of Lords — where she was celebrated as one of Parliament’s most colourful characters — in 2017.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt celebrated her as a ‘‘trailblazer, heroine and an utter joy’’.

Ms Mordaunt wrote: ‘‘Deepest sympathies to all who knew and loved this incredible woman. Socialite, mother, Bletchley Park code breaker, Baroness, Minister, trailblazer, heroine and an utter joy.’’

James Cleverly, an MP and deputy chairman of the Conservative party, tweeted: ‘‘So sad to hear that code breaking, two finger wagging, Baroness Trumpington has passed away. Ma’am, we salute you.’’

Lady Trumpington (Jean Alys Barker) spent 37 years as a Conservative peer and had spells as a minister and a government whip.

She shot to fame in 2011 when she was caught on camera in the Lords chamber flicking a Vsign at a fellow

Tory peer over what she perceived as a rude remark about her age.

During World War 2, she was a ‘‘Land Girl’’ for David Lloyd George before working in naval intelligence at the Bletchley Park codebreaking headquarters.

Before entering Parliament, Lady Trumpington was a Cambridge councillor, rising to become mayor in 1971.

She took her seat in the Lords in 1980 and was a government whip and minister during several periods in the 1980s and ’90s. — PA