By Mark Davies BBC News Online political reporter

Nor will the name Ian McCartney ring many bells with the man on the street.

McCartney is one of Labour's most respected ministers

But few at Westminster will be surprised that Tony Blair has called on Mr McCartney as he seeks a way to end the firefighters' strike.

Mr McCartney is a key figure within the government in terms of his links with the unions and Labour's grassroots.

Moreover, he is likely to be seen as someone with whom the union movement feels it can work.

Mr McCartney has "been through the union mill", as one observer put it.

Until recently, the MP was regarded as one of a key group of advisers who kept the prime minister in touch with developments among the unions.

But the influence of that group lessened after the Makerfield MP took on the pensions portfolio and others became MPs or took their first steps on the ministerial ladder.

Exposed

Another - Pat McFadden - left the government to go into business before being persuaded to return as Mr Blair's political secretary - a job he started just two weeks ago.

Well-liked among Labour activists, he an extremely active MP famed for his withering attacks on the Tories in the Commons

Some at Westminster felt that without the guidance of such key figures, Mr Blair had left himself exposed in terms of relations with the unions.

And that argument is all the more persuasive now as the government seeks to resolve the firefighters' dispute.

There is little doubt that Mr McCartney's experience will be invaluable.

It'd be easy to characterise him as a bluff, tough Scot who'll now step in to bang heads together.

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But like many of those with their finger on the pulse of Labour's grassroots on whom Tony Blair has so often depended, there is much more to him than that.

MP for Makerfield since June 1987, Mr McCartney is one of Labour's most respected ministers.

A frontbencher since 1992, he immediately joined the government at the trade department after the party's 1997 election triumph.

And his close links with the unions helped him to bring Labour's flagship employment settlement successfully through the Commons.

He was also able to put the minimum wage, for which he had long campaigned, on the statute book.

Withering

On moving to the Cabinet Office in 1999, he took on the government's campaign again drugs, an issue close to his heart after the death of his son following a heroin overdose.

His latest move, to become pensions minister, came after the last election.

Well-liked among Labour activists, he is an extremely active MP famed for his withering attacks on the Tories in the Commons.

He combines his tough political exterior with a sense of fun, and is a popular performer at party conferences.

But it is his skill as a behind-the-scenes fixer which Mr Blair is calling on now.