HOW terribly sad that Dame Tessa Jowell, the former Labour minister, has lost her fight for life against a brain tumour.

Tessa Jowell represented all that was good about politics, politicians and true public service. She cut across the whole political divide and was hugely respected in Westminster.

As Culture Secretary she was responsible for the incredibly successful 2012 Olympic Games in London which had exemplary efficiency and showed the United Kingdom at its best to the world.

Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s spin doctor, mentioned on BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that when he informed a Tory politician he burst into tears on the telephone - which says so much about Tessa the person and her qualities as a human being.

When she appeared on television she came across as being very sincere, kind, warm and compassionate - a persona which most politicians can only dream of and never achieve.

Was Tessa the best prime minister that Labour never had?

For me she represents the true Labour Party: someone who had the capacity to win the centre ground where elections are won and lost.

If only Westminster had many more like Tessa Jowell we might all have a different attitude to politics.

Keith Massey,

Bishopthorpe, York