[4] As a peer, in association with the shop workers' union, she led opposition to the liberalisation of Sunday trading hours.

From 1998 she was Leader of the House of Lords, playing a pivotal role in the major reform that led to the removal of most of its hereditary members.

[5] She was co-chair of the cross-party Iraq Commission (along with Tom King and Paddy Ashdown) which was established by the Foreign Policy Centre think-tank and Channel 4.

[6]) She drew ridicule when she said she could understand the needs of rural voters because she had a "little cottage" in the country, which turned out to be a £500,000 house in Ireland,[7] and she also had a "substantial property" in the Chilterns.

Peter Jay was appointed ambassador to the United States by his friend David Owen, Foreign Secretary in her father's government, leading to accusations of nepotism.

Bernstein's then-wife Nora Ephron fictionalised the story in her novel, Heartburn, in which the character of Thelma is a thinly disguised representation of Jay.