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| Dame Tessa Jowell dies aged 70 | Dame Tessa Jowell dies aged 70 |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Former Labour cabinet minister Dame Tessa Jowell has died aged 70, her family has said. | Former Labour cabinet minister Dame Tessa Jowell has died aged 70, her family has said. |
| Dame Tessa, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in May last year, suffered a haemorrhage on Friday, and had been in a coma until her death on Saturday. | |
| She played a major role in securing the 2012 Olympics for London when she served as culture secretary. | |
| In recent months she campaigned for more cancer treatments to be made available through the NHS. | |
| She earned a minute-long standing ovation in the House of Lords in January for speaking about the issue. | |
| Former prime minister Tony Blair said Dame Tessa had "passion, determination and simple human decency in greater measure than any person I have ever known". | |
| A statement from her family said it was "with great sadness, and an enormous sense of loss" that they announce the news of her death. | |
| She died peacefully at the family home near Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire shortly after 22:00 BST on Saturday, the statement said. | |
| "Her husband David and their children Jessie and Matthew were by her side, with Jessie's husband Finn, Matthew's wife Ella, and David's children from his first marriage. | |
| "In addition to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, in recent months doctors tried innovative new treatments which Tessa gladly embraced, but sadly the tumour recently progressed very quickly." | |
| The statement thanked people for the "overwhelming support" Dame Tessa and her family had received since she became ill. | |
| A small private funeral will be held "in the coming days" and a memorial service "open to all" at a later date. | |
| Mr Blair said Dame Tessa was "an inspiration to work with, and a joy to be near". | |
| "She was the most wise of counsellors, the most loyal and supportive of colleagues, and the best of friends," he said. |