Bletchley veteran and outspoken peeress

Born: October 23, 1922;

Died: November 26, 2018

The REDOUBTABLE Baroness Trumpington, who has died aged 96, was a former Tory minister and government whip who delighted in the nicknames of Baroness Battleaxe and Trumpers and was one of the recognised characters of the House of Lords – admired and respected by everyone. She gained a wide notoriety when, listening to a speech by Lord (Tom) King in 2011 in the House of Lords, he referred to her age. She responded with a two-fingered salute which went viral on social media. She offered the same salute to Ken Clarke at an Oldie lunch.

She was indefatigable. When invited to be a panellist on Have I Got News For You, aged 90, she announced when introduced that the BBC had made her sign a form to confirm she was not pregnant.

Jean Alys Barker (née Campbell-Harris) came of wealthy parents – her father was in the army and her mother a Chicago heiress, much of which disappeared in the Wall Street Crash. Her schooling was minimal (“I used to go into the woods with the local boys and smoke” she once admitted) but when she left school at 15 she had fluent French, German and Italian. She was in France when war broke out and returned to London. After initially working as a land girl on David Lloyd George’s farm in Wales, she was sent in 1940 to Bletchley Park where she worked as a naval code-breaker and her fluency in French and German proved essential.

The hours were long and the work intense – it was, she admitted, a mix of the deathly dull and the thrillingly exciting. Lady Trumpington’s work included deciphering U-boat movements in the Mediterranean many of which were sunk thus allowing supplies to be shipped to the Allies in North Africa prior to El Alamein. “The whole process” she said in an interview, “was extremely efficient. We realised it was important but we never talked about it.”

But there were lighter moments – nights of Gilbert and Sullivan and Scottish country dancing and, as one friend has recalled, “Jean was always up for some merry larks after the night shift.”

She has said of those years: "Life only really began when I went to Bletchley. That's when I made my real friends, and it was exciting being a part of something important."

After the war Lady Trumpington worked in Paris, London and New York but returned in 1953 to marry William Barker who was a master at Eton and later headmaster at The Leys – typically Lady Trumpington always called her husband Barker. She was energetic in school and local affairs and served as a councillor on Cambridge City Council and as mayor in 1971 which she described as a folderol.

Her national career in politics commenced in the early 1970s when she was appointed by Margaret Thatcher to various public authorities notably the Mental Health Tribunal, as General Commissioner for Taxes and a UK representative to the UN. The two strident ladies got on well. “I loved her dearly” Lady Trumpington admitted. “She was terribly kind and I told her exactly what I thought.”

She certainly gave as good as she got from the Iron Lady. “I thought: if I'm not true to myself, I might as well not exist,” Lady Trumpington reasoned. “In my dealings with the PM I'll say what I think and if that's wrong, she can sack me. We fought each other verbally and it meant she was ready for other opponents."

In 1985 Mrs Thatcher appointed Lady Trumpington a government chief whip and (1985-87) a minister in the Department of Health – despite smoking heavily. Later appointments included the Ministry of Agriculture (1989-92) under John Major.

It was not only Mrs Thatcher who witnessed Lady Trumpington’s no-nonsense opinions. She had concise opinions of some her fellow ministers: on Edwina Currie she was less than gracious: “I thought she was dreadful. The eggs! I was always having to pick up her pieces."

In 1980 she was created a life peer with the title Baroness Trumpington of Sandwich. Lady Trumpington retired in 2017 on her 95th birthday and was acknowledged as Britain's oldest female peer.

During her 37 years in the upper chamber she became well known for her colourful behaviour and formidable manner. She had powerful debating skills and summed up complex laws with an incisive phrase. She was never flippant but undoubtedly brought to the Lords a dash of much needed wit and impish good humour.

Lady Trumpington, who wrote Coming up Trumps in 2014, loved dancing and in her youth went to night clubs with the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson, remained a keen collector of antiques and played a competitive game of bridge. She is survived by her son.

ALASDAIR STEVEN