When the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, addressed the Labour Party conference in September 1998 and spoke of “our one and only Mo”, his speech was interrupted by delegates who gave her a prolonged standing ovation, an unprecedented event during a Prime Minister’s speech as Tony Blair himself acknowledged. Mo Mowlam regularly topped surveys of popular politicians. Her empathy, frankness and irreverence endeared her to the general public. Some observers would say that her widespread popularity may have eventually led to her political downfall. Born Marjorie Mowlam in Watford in 1949, but since her schooldays she was known as “Mo”. Her parents both worked for the post office but her father Frank had a lifelong battle with alcoholism. She excelled academically and taught political science in Florida State University. On her return to England she became active in the Labour Party. She took a leading role in Blair’s leadership victory in 1994 and she was given the post of Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary. Having spent three years acquainting herself in detail with the complexities of Northern Ireland it was no surprise that she was given the position of Northern Ireland Secretary after the 1997 general election. A number of months before the election she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. Once described as the woman who put the “Mo” in momentum. Her mission in Northern Ireland was to restore the IRA ceasefire and bring Sinn Féin into the talks process while at the same time keeping the Unionists on board. To do this, in January 1998 she controversially went on a mission into the Maze Prison to ask convicted loyalist prisoners to support the negotiations. Her period in Northern Ireland was marked by outbreaks of lethal violence. She annoyed and angered people along the way. She retracted a statement she’d made claiming that the negotiations could go ahead without the Unionists. She infuriated the Garvaghy Road residents over her dec