Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, DBE, PC (née Palmer; 18 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from 1992 to 2015.

[16] She was appointed Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport following the 2001 election, replacing the sacked Chris Smith.

[20][21] It also relaxed regulations on ownership of British television stations, though, following a rebellion in the House of Lords, a 'public interest' test was introduced as a compromise.

[26] In 2004, Jowell faced resistance to proposals for a series of so-called "super casinos", to be sanctioned as part of the Gambling Act 2005 which liberalised Britain's gaming laws.

[30][31] In Gordon Brown's reshuffle in June 2007, following his succession as Labour leader and Prime Minister, Jowell was demoted from her position as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

She retained her Olympics portfolio, however, and was also appointed Paymaster General and Minister for London, being allowed to attend Cabinet, although not as a full member.

[32] She was further demoted on 3 October 2008, losing her Minister for London role to Tony McNulty, and being allowed to attend cabinet only when her area of responsibility was on the agenda.

[34] In the 2012 Birthday Honours, Jowell was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for "political and charitable services", in particular for her contribution to delivering the London 2012 Olympics.

[35][36] Jowell was a zealous supporter of the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, reportedly saying on one occasion that she would "jump under a bus" for him.

Despite being moved from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2007, she retained her position as Olympics Minister throughout Labour's time in office.

She began by speaking of how she came to be diagnosed with an extremely lethal form of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme.

"[55] Jowell's husband David Mills was an international corporate lawyer who has acted for Silvio Berlusconi, then the Italian Prime Minister.

[56][57] Jowell was investigated by the Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell over the allegations surrounding her husband, because of a possible conflict of interest between her personal life and ministerial duties.

[62] On 17 February 2009, an Italian court sentenced Mills to four years and six months in jail after finding him guilty of accepting a bribe from Berlusconi to give false evidence on his behalf during corruption trials which had taken place in 1997 and 1998.

[66] In 2001, Jowell was widely criticised for 'interfering' in Independent Television Commission (ITC) rulings on complaints regarding Brass Eye.

The Guardian newspaper suggested that "for the Culture Secretary to speak directly to the head of a TV network about a specific programme smacks of the Soviet commissar and the state broadcaster".

[74] Jowell was Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport during the News of the World newspaper phone-hacking scandal (pre-2007).

"[78] Jowell also actively served on the Advisory Board of the Ministerial Leadership in Health Program, a joint initiative of the Harvard T.H.

[81] Jowell said on Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme in September 2012 that she was seeing Mills regularly, saying that they had "reached a state of stability which I never thought possible".

[citation needed] In April 2016, her son Matthew Mills married food writer Ella Woodward, who is also his business partner.

Jowell contacted police in late January 2011 to inform them that there had recently been an unsuccessful attempt to listen to voicemail messages on her phone.

[87] After Jowell's death, Downing Street announced that in tribute to her, brain cancer government funding would be doubled and the so-called "gold standard dye" tumour diagnosis tests would be extended to all NHS hospitals.

[89][90] On 11 May 2018, Jowell suffered a brain haemorrhage and fell into a coma at her home in Darlingscott, near Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire; she died the following day at the age of 70.