Philippa Roe, Baroness Couttie and, left, the anonymous caricature

IT must have been a difficult Christmas for the loved ones of former Westminster City Council leader and peer Philippa Roe after she passed away from cancer in December.

What was immediately noticeable was the admiration she drew from fellow politicians of all tribes.

The tributes came from all corners, and, while this newspaper did not agree with everything her council embarked on, we too recognised a talent who the Conservatives might have done well to have picked as their mayoral candidate when she put her name up for consideration.

Smart and dedicated, she had lived in Westminster for decades and knew how it ticked.

The caricature above comes with a funny recollection. A spiky row was bubbling up over whether portrait artists would be stopped from working in the plaza at Leicester Square while lengthy works were taking place.

They ended up being moved to a spot behind the National Portrait Gallery where far fewer tourists passed by.

One of them said they had so much free time on their hands they had decided to draw the then council leader herself and the work – we cannot tell you the artist’s name – ended up on the doormat of the Extra’s offices.

When it first appeared in these pages in 2012, I gather she took the sketch in the right spirit, even if she didn’t pop down for a proper sitting.