Former prime ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron were among 1,000 people who came together to remember ex-culture secretary Tessa Jowell.

Baroness Jowell, a driving force behind the 2012 London Olympics, was commemorated at Southwark Cathedral in south London on Thursday.

The Labour politician, who served under Mr Blair, died in May aged 70 after being diagnosed with the brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme.

Former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and Sarah Brown at the memorial service (
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Jess and Matthew Mills, children of the late Tessa Jowell MP and her husband David Mills (
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Former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown chat ahead of the service (
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She spent time during her last months campaigning for better treatment for the disease.

At the service, Baroness Jowell's daughter Jessie recalled her mother's "endless, heart-bursting, infinite love".

Lord Sebastian Coe worked with Baroness Jowell on the delivery of the 2012 Olympics (
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Former Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks during the memorial service (
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Tessa Jowell's family with Tony Blair in the row behind (
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She said: "To be loved like this since the moment we were born and to be her children is the single greatest privilege of our lives."

Mr Blair said "not a day goes by" without him thinking of Baroness Jowell.

Tessa Jowell, the Labour Party candidate in the Ilford North by-election, outside the Labour Campaign Headquarters, February 1978 (
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Former Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and David Cameron at the memorial service (
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Tony Blair greets David Cameron ahead of the service (
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Her love for her family and friends was "a beautiful thing to witness and a pleasure to be near", he said.

She was "unafraid to stand up for her friends, unafraid to stand up to them, but always standing by them", he added.

Dame Tessa Jowell with her husband David Mills and children Jess and Matthew, proudly holds her Dame Commander insignia (
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David Cameron ahead of the service (
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The former Labour leader drew roars of laughter as he recalled how she had successfully persuaded him of the merits of hosting the London 2012 Olympics - her "brainchild".

Tony Blair greets Gordon Brown's wife Sarah (
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Dame Tessa Jowell speaking in the House of Lords after she was diagnosed last May with a high-grade brain tumour (
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He said: "I resisted, she persisted, I desisted."

His friend and former colleague grew in character in the months after her diagnosis, he said.

Ed Miliband shares a joke with Gordon Brown (
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He said: "Tessa died with so much still to give, but if life is measured not in how long you live but by how much you give, she lived a length of biblical proportions."

He ended: "Tessa, we love you, we thank you and we will never, ever forget you."

Tessa with her daughter Jess, grand-daughter Ottie and Ella (left). (
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Also attending the service were former Labour leader Ed Miliband, former home secretary Lord Blunkett, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Commons Speaker John Bercow and London 2012 chairman Lord Coe.

The service came as Mr Khan announced a walkway in the Olympic Park will be named in her honour.