A FORMER North-East MP has switched careers from party politics to bedroom politics after taking up the role of a sex agony aunt.

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, who represented the Redcar constituency between 1987 and 2001, has joined Zoo magazine after approaching it with the idea of becoming an agony aunt.

Editor Paul Merrill yesterday said he was surprised by the approach but was sure the much-loved MP would be a huge hit.

He said: "When she had her brain tumour and put on lots of weight she was compared to a Geordie trucker.

"She got lots of letters from Geordie truckers saying they thought she was fantastic and they put pictures of her on their dashboards.

"Since then she has been a real hit with young people. And blokes fancy older women - Mo's no exception."

Dr Mowlam, 54, told The Northern Echo in May she had flirted with the idea of writing a column, but did not elaborate further.

George Dunning, leader of the Labour group on Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said he was sure Dr Mowlam would do a first-class job. He said: "Mo would be absolutely marvellous at the job. She has always given good, sound advice and I am sure she will do a first-class job."

The magazine has sent Dr Mowlam a list of questions for her to answer, including "should I have a threesome?" to "my girlfriend's no good at sex; should I dump her?"

Dr Mowlam said last night she had approached both Zoo and Closer magazines because she wanted to help people solve their problems.

She said: "I decided as a politician I enjoyed responding to people's problems and that is what I liked most about my time in Redcar."