"Former Tory minister and government whip Baroness Trumpington has died at the age of 96. The peer, who retired from the Lords last year, served in the Department of Health and Ministry of Agriculture in the 1980s and 1990s. Seven years ago, footage showing her making a V-sign at a fellow Tory over what she saw as a rude remark about her age went viral online. In World War Two, she worked in naval intelligence at Bletchley Park. Fluent in French and German, the then 18-year-old worked as a cypher clerk, transcribing messages from German submarines for code breakers. Before entering Parliament in 1980, Lady Trumpington was a councillor in Cambridge, where she later became mayor. In government, she served under prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major. Lady Trumpington's death was confirmed by her son, Adam Barker, who said she had died on Monday afternoon in her sleep. He posted a photo of his mother's Parliamentary Pass on Twitter, which showed it still had four years to run: "She did not make it to October 2022(100) ..but she had a bloody good innings"." Tory peer Baroness Trumpington dies at 96
