FORMER Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, who lived in Kent, has died at the age of 55.

Ms Mowlam entered hospital last month before being moved to a hospice in Canterbury. It was unclear if her illness was linked to her previous brain tumour.

As an MP Ms Mowlam was a popular and charismatic figure, known for her sense of humour.

Ms Mowlam lived at Conyer, near Sittingbourne. She leaves a husband, Jon Norton, a merchant banker turned painter.

Throughout her political career Ms Mowlam revelled in being unorthodox and was never frightened to express her views. She lost her fight for life at the Pilgrim’s Hospice in Canterbury.

The Rev Michael Gooch, Vicar of St Mary’s Church at Teynham, near Sittingbourne, said: "She had a wonderful personality and last year when she opened St Mary’s fete she made a point of talking to everybody and supporting every stall.

"My wife June is from Bangor, County Down, so for us to meet someone who had been so involved in the Peace Process as Northern Ireland Minister was something very special.

"She sat in the vicarage before the fete with her feet up and spent most of the day with us.... someone who had been involved in government at the highest levels yet was so down-to-earth. She was a fantastic person."

Derek Wyatt, MP for Sittinbourne and Sheppey, was a close friend of the former Northern Ireland Secretary and spoke of his enormous sorrow at her death.

"She was a political giant and, with Margaret Thatcher, was the greatest female politician we’ve ever had. I absolutely adored her and so did everyone else.

"It was her work in 1997-98 that created the Peace Process that the Prime Minister has just concluded. Without her it could never have happened.

"I have always thought it was a terrible shame that she was the only Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who was not allowed to keep the car and the two protection officers, particularly in view of her frailty.

"It is only a month ago that she came to dinner at my home in Rodmersham and for the first time she used a Zimmer frame because the surgery on her benign brain tumour had damaged her balance.

"We knew she was very unsteady on her pins but we thought that would give her another 10 years at least. We never expected she would fall and hit her head on the bed."