Dame Annette Brooke obituary

Annette Brooke in 2010, the year the coalition government came to power. She was a leading Lib Dem opponent of its policy to remove the cap on student tuition fees. Photograph: Richard Gardner/Shutterstock

Annette Brooke, who has died aged 78, was a popular and quietly effective Liberal Democrat MP, both in her constituency and within the parliamentary party.

During her 14 years as the member for Mid Dorset and North Poole – the longest-serving female MP in the party’s history – she held a number of prominent posts, including parliamentary party chairman (2013-15), spokesperson on home affairs (2003-07) under the then leader, Charles Kennedy, and, most notably, spokesperson for children, young people and families (2004–10).