Labour MP
Tessa Jowell has died at the age of 70 after a long battle with cancer.
Her family announced the sad news this morning that Dame Tessa, who was diagnosed with
brain cancer last year, suffered a haemorrhage on Friday.
She had been in a coma until her death on Saturday.
The former cabinet minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown played a major role in securing the 2012 Olympics Games in London when she led the culture department.
In recent months, she moved fellow peers in the House of Lords to tears as she discussed her condition calling for patients to have better access to experimental treatment, earning a minute-long standing ovation in the Upper Chamber.
The family spokesman said: "It is with great sadness, and an enormous sense of loss, that we announce the death of Tessa Jowell.
"She died peacefully at the family home near Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire last night, shortly after 10pm.
"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."
Speaking about the Dame's health condition in her last weeks, the spokesman added: "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 family would like to thank people for the overwhelming support Tessa and they have received since she became ill.
"They have been touched and moved by the response, in both Houses of Parliament; from members of the public; and other cancer patients and their families around the world."
The family will celebrate the life of Dame Tessa with a memorial service open to all at a date yet to announce, while the funeral will be private.
Former prime minister Tony Blair said: "Tessa had passion, determination and simple human decency in greater measure than any person I have ever known.
"She 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.
"What she achieved was remarkable. She was the first senior politician fully to understand the importance of public health and to shift health policy towards prevention of illness and not only cure.
"She brought the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics to London, and ensured their success."
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said: "Tessa was an indefatigable campaigner who translated care from a word to a deed at every turn.
"Passionate, warm and empathetic, she saw the best in everyone and won respect and affection across the political spectrum."
Lord Sebastian Coe, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and former chairman of the London organising committee of the Olympic Games, said: "Tessa was not just a close friend, she was a life enhancer.
"Her contribution to the Olympic and Paralympic Games is easily defined - quite simply, without Tessa there would have been no London 2012, and without Tessa they would not have been the success they were."
Dame tessa became MP for the south London Dulwich and West Norwood constituency in 1992 and retained her seat five years later.
She joined the cabinet as Culture Secretary in 2001, after holding a series of ministerial jobs including Employment Minister and Minister for Women.
In 2015 she stepped down from the Commons and was made Baroness Jowell of Brixton.
Prince Charles made her Dame in 2013, during a ceremony in Buckingham Palace.