The condition of the critically ill former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam has deteriorated, friends said today.
The former Redcar MP (55) was transferred from hospital to a hospice last week.
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She had previously suffered a brain tumour, and her increasingly frail appearance has prompted fresh fears for her health in recent months. She is being cared for at the Pilgrim Hospice in Canterbury.
Ms Mowlam - one of New Labour's most popular figures - stood down as an MP at the 2001 election after 14 years. She had been made Northern Ireland secretary when Labour swept to power in 1997 and quickly made a name for herself as a down-to-earth and often too-honest politician.
She won universal acclaim for her perseverance in working towards the Belfast Agreement the following year. The achievement was magnified by the fact that she was recovering from treatment for the brain tumour at the time.
However she faced growing opposition from mainstream unionists in Ulster and was replaced by Peter Mandelson.
She became Cabinet "enforcer". But her time in the post was marked by a steady stream of reports that someone in high places was briefing against her.
There were also suggestions that the Prime Minister Tony Blair had been irritated when the Labour Party conference gave her a longer standing ovation than him.
She became even more outspoken after leaving the Commons, saying it was "harder and harder to defend what the Labour Government is doing".