FORMER North-East MP Mo Mowlam has been voted the nation's favourite politician of all time.

Dr Mowlam, who died last month, is probably best remembered for helping to broker the Ulster peace deal when she was Northern Ireland Secretary.

The former MP for Redcar, east Cleveland, topped the poll ahead of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill.

Margaret Thatcher was third, followed by Tony Blair.

The survey, by ITV1's This Morning programme, found the public chose Dr Mowlam for her honesty and sense of humour.

She received a fifth of the vote in the YouGov poll of 2,000 people, which showed businessman Sir Richard Branson as the celebrity the public would most like to see as an MP.

Tory MP Boris Johnson was voted the sexiest male politician and the sexiest female was Lib-Dem Sarah Teather.

Labour politicians Margaret Beckett and John Prescott were named the politicians most in need of a makeover.

Former Tory leaders topped a list of Britain's most boring politicians - John Major came first, followed by Iain Duncan Smith and Richmond MP William Hague.

DUP leader the Reverend Ian Paisley is the politician people would least like to be stuck on a desert island with, ahead of Baroness Thatcher and Mr Blair, according to the poll.

At the Labour Party annual conference in Brighton yesterday, delegates were shown a video tribute to Robin Cook, Lord Callaghan and Dr Mowlam, all of whom died during the summer.

The conference heard a moving tribute to Dr Mowlam from her successor, Vera Baird.

There was laughter from the delegates as Ms Baird described how the former Northern Ireland Secretary called everyone in her constituency "babe" or "chick".

The MP said: "People felt they had shared in Mo's off-duty moments and that meant a great deal to them.

"That was an important diplomatic tool on the international stage but, in Redcar, its importance was that it enhanced ordinary people's sense of their own worth.

"She was a star, a friend and an utterly original human being."

* Chancellor Gordon Brown yesterday threatened to open a rift in the Labour movement after he pledged in The Sunday Times to continue unpopular public sector reforms if he succeeds Tony Blair as leader.

Trade unions, which had hoped that his appointment would signal a change in direction for the Government, responded with dismay.