She has also worked at the Treasury where she gained a reputation as an efficient minister.
As a member of the 1997 Labour intake, she has had a rapid promotion, but she entered Parliament with a history in high-level Labour politics, having served as Neil Kinnock’s press secretary.
She co-wrote Mr Kinnock’s famous conference speech attacking Militant. She is also thought to have helped set up Labour’s feared database, Excalibur, the computer that spearheaded the party’s “rapid rebuttal” of Tory attacks in 1997.
Ms Hewitt chose her young children over a parliamentary career in 1992, delaying her entry to the Commons.