POSITION: Secretary of State for International Development
Also known as:
As the minister for plain speaking, Ms Short provokes much bile from cabinet colleagues. But her talent for blunt speaking makes her popular with the public, if not with New Labour's spin doctors, and her direct remarks on a range of issues ensure she is never out of the headlines for long.

Business experience:
Ms Short is currently under attack for refusing to hawk the wares of Britain's manufacturers abroad. On Sunday she said it was not part of her job to, "talk to representatives of the Chinese government about individual transactions that companies might be engaging in". Her point-blank refusal to beat the drum for British business led the director general of the Institute of Exporters to describe her approach as "simplistic" while others have congratulated her on her refusal to mix trade and aid.

Good communicator:
Her comments on China are just the latest in a series of headline grabbing remarks. The most famous of which managed to offend the entire population of the volcano-hit Caribbean island of Montserrat when she responded to their pleas for aid with the retort: "They'll be wanting golden elephants next."

Ambitions:
Ms Short has committed the government to halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. She means it when she says: "We are the first generation of human beings who have the capacity to eliminate extreme poverty from the human condition."

Friends in high places:
The minister often seems to fall victim to the harsh words of cabinet colleagues, more so than those of the opposition. She says a fellow minister made up a story saying she compared the Ulster Unionists to the Ku Klux Klan, adding that some people wanted to "pick my eyes out".

Foreign relations:
The prime minister was reported as being angered by remarks Ms Short made about President Clinton during the height of the Lewinsky Affair when she said the president was, "a serial liar who isn't fit to be leader".

A lot of work for charity
Ms Short provoked controversy earlier this year when she said the starving children of southern Sudan did not need the West's money, saying instead it was vital to end Sudan's civil war to enable aid to reach the starving. She also criticised emotive pictures of starving children as counter-productive in raising money for disaster relief.

Family values:
After giving him up for adoption in 1964 Ms Short was re-introduced to her son Toby only recently.

Salary:
Cabinet ministers earn �60,000. Too much perhaps? As an opposition MP in 1996 she sent Labour's media minders into a spin, when she was heard to remark that people "like me" could afford to pay more tax.

Availability for work:
After having resigned from the shadow cabinet twice under Neil Kinnock over matters of principle, should Tony Blair ever want to sack her he may find Ms Short has already left.