Talk:Tessa Jowell

Intimately Connected with Rebecca Brooks and NOTW
Jowell was at a house party, thrown by Rupert Murdoch's daughter, only days before the Millie Dowler phone hacking story hit the newspapers - as was her estranged husband, who she astutely attempted to distance herself from after he was found guilty of political corruption in Italy. (source http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2015563/Elisabeth-Murdoch-threw-party-Camerons-cronies-hours-beofre-Milly-Dowler-scandal.html), along with Mandelson and Rebekah Brooks. Who took the decision to allow her to stay in office after her husbands arrest, as they clearly never split up? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.42.225.164 (talk) 22:01, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Olympics Cost
The UK Government committed to the staggering costs of this event before revealing the extent of the national debt. Was Tessa Jowell aware of our insolvency at the time?212.139.96.199 (talk) 22:07, 26 July 2011 (UTC)twl212.139.96.199 (talk) 22:07, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Bio details
The last change is odd. Clearly something is in error here, as most sources say her maiden name was Mills, not Palmer. Which is correct? And her Number 10 biography says born London, not Aberdeen. Should the last change be reversed? 84.92.182.15 23:46, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

There certainly was a third year Arts student called Tessa-Jane Helen Douglas Palmer at Aberdeen University in 1967/8

Her maiden name was Palmer. Her married name is Mills. Jowell was the surname of her first husband.

Please source her birthplace here. We have 2 options, Aberdeen and London, I have removed either until we get some sources as what we must avoid is incorrect info, SqueakBox 16:08, 4 March 2006 (UTC)


 * She apparently says born in London, and so do her official Bios: . What's the source for Aberdeen? Rwendland 10:49, 5 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Interesting new bio info at, including "She moved to Aberdeen with her parents when she was a toddler" - supporting born in London info. Aberdeen newspaper says "graduated with an M.A from Aberdeen University in 1968" (would be age 21).  Also "Tessa Jowell was born a hospital consultant's daughter".

Lookls like London then, SqueakBox 13:52, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Corrupt politicos

 * Is there a category "Corrupt Politicians" or another one "Politicians who are Corrupt but Slippery enough that it can't Easily be Proven?"? MarkThomas 12:39, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

A category for "Corrupt Politicians" ? The Wikipedia site isn't big enough to be able to include them all. We can't get rid of all the corrupt politicians. We'd have nobody left to run the country. Are you mischievous comedian Mark Thomas ? --Parkinsons 13:26, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I (--farsee50 09:17, 14 March 2006 (UTC)) have moved the following POV - not mine but dated 19:29, 13 March 2006 by 82.45.202.236 - here as it's vandalism in the encyclopedia article but is worth retaining here as it seems to represent what many people in the Labour Party probably think and why the story (and the media's treatment of it) is so damaging to politics as well as to her party and to Tessa Jowell - even if she and her husband turn out to be completely innocent of charges laid: "Just like many thousands of ordinary working folk Tessa has successfully negotiated remortgaging her home to invest in various ventures by her husband. Not once, but several times! And apparently not knowing when the re-mortgage was repaid or where the money came from! She sees no disconnection between her own behaviour and actions and the ideals the Labour Party used to stand for. Who needs a Conservative Party with Tony and his friends in charge. The cheek of treating voters like stupid hoi-polloi will come back to haunt Blair when his legacy is revealed to be...................... completely nothing except the systematic perversion of this country's laws and any respect for civil liberties."

I have removed the following POV from the Tessa Jowell article: "This is a supposedly smart attempt to make it appear like the US Nixon scandal of Watergate, which is of course totally meaningless to most readers under the age of 50." Is this really so? If so, we need accurate factual Wikipedia all the more to remind us of the dangers of not keeping politicians of all ages and in all eras under careful scrutiny. The link is explored more fully in the Tessa Jowell/Jowellgate main article--farsee50 14:41, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

I think it would make sense to mention in the section about Brass Eye that she attempted to bring back government censorship, which was really what the real controversy was about. Not just that she tried to interfere. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.97.118.32 (talk) 20:34, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Lambeth Labour - duff link
The link recently added is a duffer. . Suspect the site is down (google search cache shows a site is normally there). --Oscarthecat 18:20, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Stammering etc
Tessa Jowell is most famous for being a British politician ... Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for the Olympics, not for stammering a bit. It's really a very minor issue that does not deserve the prominence of being in the lead paragraph. The statement needs rewording and placing further down the article. It could also do with a reference, per the biographies of living persons and attribution policies. Thanks, →Ollie (talk • contribs) 17:34, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Ums and ahs do not qualify as a speech impediment. In addition, that section is poorly written.  I took a stab at it before deciding that I don't think it really even needs to be in the article.  But, since it's been discussed before, I elected not to pull it out.  I hope someone else will though.  Philippe Beaudette 22:03, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, I've taken this out again. Thinking about it further, the statement really needs a source. I'm just not convinced that it's true, or that it's not being exaggerated out of all proportion. To devote an entire section to an single unsourced statement about her having a speech impediment just doesn't seem right. Sorry to mess the anon ip about here, I've just clarified my own thoughts on the matter a little. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 01:27, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

External links modified
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Life peerages & infoboxes
Please do come along and discuss at: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Politics of the United Kingdom DBD 18:54, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

Recent death
It was announced on the news this morning (13 May 2018) that Tessa Jowell had died, so this article can now be removed from the category "Living People" and put in the category "Recent deaths". Vorbee (talk) 08:05, 13 May 2018 (UTC)