FORMER Blackburn MP Jack Straw has paid tribute to the late Queen's professionalism and the 'terrific twinkle in her eye'.

The Labour politician who served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Lord Chancellor said her sense of duty and Christian faith 'infused everything she did'.

Mr Straw - MP for Blackburn from 1979 to 2015 - shared his personal memories of the Queen just hours after she passed away at Balmoral on Thursday.

He said he had not doubt her son King Charles would rise to the challenge of succeeding her.

Mr Straw told the Lancashire Telegraph: "I saw a fair amount of the Queen as a minister.

"While I was Home Secretary and then Lord Chancellor I had to administer the Oath of Homage which all new Bishops have to take to the Queen - ceremony which dates straight back to Henry VIII's decision to separate the English church from Rome.

"The Queen has the Oath delivered to her as Supreme Governor of the Church of England and she took her role very seriously.

"Her Christian faith was fundamental to her and her love of the church was all embracing.

"As Foreign Secretary I had to accompany the Queen on her state visits abroad.

"Because she was already elderly by anyone else's standards these were only one or two a year but included France, Germany, Malta and Nigeria.

"I was witness then to the extraordinary care and professionalism she put into all her engagements - on the plane out working through her speeches and checking exactly what was going to happen with her many other engagements.

"She had an astonishing personal history to call on and could remember meeting the individual heads of government in those countries going back decades.

"Her sense of duty infused everything she did.

"She was quite formal, as she had to be, but not stand-offish.

"She had a great sense of humour and a terrific twinkle in her eye.

"I have also seen King Charles as Prince of Wales and I am sure her will be able to rise to the great burden now placed upon him."