Anji Hunter was Tony Blair's first director of political and government relations, standing down and being replaced by Baroness Morgan in 2001.
However Hunter has been described as a much more flamboyant character than her successor, putting a public face to a back-room job.
She was also a Blair loyalist rather than a party apparatchik, having been friends with Blair since 1970 when she was 15 and he 17.
Hunter first worked for him on a part-time basis after Blair was elected an MP in 1983. Aside from a small break following the 1992 general election, she worked at his side as his confidante and trusted aide until her departure from Downing Street.
In addition to being a loyal friend and an excellent networker, Hunter was also very good at her job.
A shrewd figure, Hunter was said to be firm with ministers and skilled at keeping the peace between Blair and Gordon Brown when the chancellor’s ambitions for the leadership became too evident.
She was also credited with persuading the prime minister to delay the date of the 2001 election so it didn't fall in the middle of the foot-and-mouth crisis.
Shortly after the 2001 election she departed government for a top brass communications job at BP.
In July 2002, the news broke of her relationship with Sky News political editor Adam Boulton. They were married four years later, with the prime minister - although not Cherie - amongst those who attended the event.
