[1][2] She later worked as a management consultant and was a co-president of the Labour Party Irish Society,[3][4] and sat in the House of Lords as a life peer from 2004 until her death.

Her elder sister was Siobhain McDonagh, who was elected the Labour member of Parliament for Mitcham and Morden in 1997.

[3] McDonagh was part of the New Labour leadership inner circle for the 1997 general election campaign and was one of the inner-core deciding the official party position on specific issues.

[2] She was also criticised for accepting, without consultation, a £100,000 donation from Daily Express and adult magazine publisher Richard Desmond, and for still counting as party members those in arrears of up to 15 months to delay news of declining membership emerging.

David Evans, the General Secretary of the Labour Party, speaking at the launch of the Academy said it will "ensure that future generations will also know Margaret".