Not surprising news, perhaps, as reports that she’d entered a hospice and that her condition had deteriorated have been around for a few days, but it still sad to note the passing of Mo Mowlam.

Others will, no doubt, speak more effusively of her personal qualities and ability as a politician, however I would like to share the one Mo Mowlam anecdote in my personal repertoire, even if its one I only heard second-hand and cannot, therefore, vouch for its absolute accuracy, as its the kind of story which, even if it isn’t true, should be as it says much about her character.

The story, as it was told to me, goes that during her first days as Northern Ireland Secretary she was, as is the case will all incumbents of that office, required to undertake the obligatory round of ‘meet and greet’ meetings with the province’s political leaders - which meant, naturally, a meeting with the formidable figure of Rev. Ian Paisley.

Paisley, whatever else you might think of him, is a hell of an imposing figure in the flesh; tall, built the proverbial brick outhouse and every inch the archetypal figure of a biblical patriarch - like him or not, and I’m no fan, Paisley has a sheer physical presence which is, at once, both impressive and intimidating.

How, then, could Mo, a diminutive figure at best, contrive to meet with him in such a way as to assert the authority and status of her new office, and her own personal authority, without such a meeting descending into outright confontation?

Mo’s solution to this problem was both simple, elegant and shrewd - she had the furniture in her office rearranged, removing all the chairs in the room other than her own, behind her desk, and a single, very low but very comfortable armchair, which was placed in front of her desk where Paisley would have to sit during the meeting.

This ensured that no matter how he chose to sit during the meeting, Paisley would always be left looking upwards at Mo, sitting behind her desk, thereby negating the effect of Paisley’s own physical presence and stature.

It’s little things like that, the small subtleties and shrewd touches which tell you a lot about a person, and in a politician like Mo Mowlam, tell you just what an astute character she was.

After Robin Cook, this is yet another sad loss for the Labour Movement.