OONA King may be relieved she is no longer an MP, but politics is still very much in her blood.

When we meet, she has just come back from listening to Gordon Brown's first Labour Party conference speech since he took over as Prime Minister.

And despite repeatedly being branded "ultra-Blairite" during her eight years in the House of Commons, it's clear that she rates Mr Brown very highly.

"People on the left have said they want social justice. People on the right have said they want economic efficiency. Gordon Brown says we want both," she explains.

"If you want more money going into public services, you have to generate wealth. That's quite an attractive message to a lot of people who want things to be fair, but don't want to pay through the nose."

When Ms King was in the Commons, she says even Tory MPs found it hard to fault Mr Brown's handling of the economy.

"I've always been immensely impressed by his intellect and breadth of knowledge. He's not known for his charisma, funny gags or anything like that, but in a parliamentary sense you can't help being impressed. He does make people around him look like pygmies."

She is unsure whether there will be a snap General Election - pointing out that the Labour Party is currently in more debt than the Conservatives - but describes Mr Brown as a "master of surprises".

And whether the poll takes place soon or next spring, she is in no doubt about the outcome. "The Tories have got two boys on bikes, David Cameron and George Osborne, and they need stabilisers," she quips.

"I like them both, but I just don't think they can remotely rival Gordon Brown, or provide Britain with the strength of leadership we need."

Oona King was one of the brightest stars of Tony Blair's 1997 intake and only the second black woman MP ever.

Warm, intelligent, down-to-earth and a mixture of African-American/Jewish/Hungarian/ Scottish/Irish, she seemed an ideal fit for multicultural Bethnal Green and Bow in London's East End.

After increasing her majority in 2002, three years later she narrowly lost the supposedly safe Labour seat to George Galloway, who used her support of the Iraqi invasion to garner support from Muslim voters.

"I do think you need a sense of humour in life - especially when thinking of him in a red cat suit," says Ms King, referring to her opponent's notorious appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.

"I think he's very talented, but in my view, he's wasted his talents."

I ask whether she now regrets her stance on Iraq.

"Tony Blair was obsessed with this issue right from the start. In February 1998, he brought a vote before the House of Commons.

"At that time I said I couldn't vote with the government because military action should always be a last resort," she recalls. But five years later, following evidence of Saddam's genocide, Ms King voted in favour of intervention.

She still thinks removing the dictator was the right thing to do, but blames the US government for the mess that followed.

"To me it was unforgiveable to undertake military action without a scrap of post-invasion planning. It never would have occurred to me that America would arm Al Quaeda by leaving military installations unguarded for five months."

During her eight years as an MP, Ms King wrote down her thoughts as she struggled to juggle the demands of her job with her marriage and the stress of undergoing five cycles of IVF.

Her account, called House Music - The Oona King Diaries, has now been published by Bloomsbury.

She and her Italian husband ended up adopting a son, now two, and would like another child.

"It's highly unlikely that I will run for election any sooner than 10 years from now. I'm out on parole," she says.

"I'm a very proud mother and completely besotted with my son.

"If I went back (to the Commons), I know I wouldn't be able to have any family life whatsoever.

"But I'm still passionate about politics and certainly couldn't withdraw from political campaigning."