An Olympic character

Few, if anyone, at Westminster had a bad word to say about Dame Tessa Jowell, who died yesterday aged 70. Such unanimity of affection is rare enough in politics, but even more so given that she was not a bland and faceless figure about whom it was easy to be indifferent. She actually got things done. She is remembered not merely as a pleasant and courteous politician who cared about others, but as a resourceful and ambitious minister who had significant achievements to her name.

Foremost was the London Olympics of 2012. As Culture Secretary in Tony Blair’s cabinet, she persuaded ministers to throw the Government’s full weight behind London’s bid in 2005 to host the games. Lady Jowell, as she later became, then kept the flame alight amid controversy over rising costs, exacerbated by the financial crash of 2008. Though Labour lost office in 2010, few would cavil at the suggestion that she, along with Sebastian Coe and the Olympic delivery team, were the leading lights in what became a national triumph. Yet when asked to identify the achievement of which she was most proud, she named her role in the Sure Start programme for early years education.

Latterly, Lady Jowell campaigned for innovative cancer treatment and research after being diagnosed last year with an aggressive brain tumour. Her speech in the House of Lords in January was characteristic in its balanced and non-partisan analysis. She championed the Eliminate Cancer Initiative, a global programme that seeks to encourage health systems around the world to share the knowledge, recognising that the disease is better tackled by pooling expertise. A worthy legacy would be for the NHS to rise to her challenge.