The lawyer Helena Kennedy leads her home web page with a description of herself as “the nation’s favourite Portia”. She has been a Labour member of the House of Lords for 11 years where, she tells her readers, “she continues to argue with passion, wit and humanity for social justice”. She also works from the Doughty Street Chambers, predominantly in criminal law. Her most famous cases include the Brighton bombing trial and the Guildford Four appeal. Her spokeswoman says she is currently acting in a “high-profile terrorism case and working on her new book”. She opposes the war in Iraq and the introduction of ID cards. Twice married, with three children, Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws, Glasgow, is 58 today. RGT

Burt Bacharach, composer, 79; Sir Dominic Cadbury, chairman, the Wellcome Trust, 2000-05, 68; Professor Sir Cyril Chantler, paediatrician, 69; Susan Hampshire, actress, 71; Michael Ignatieff, writer, 61; Lord Joffe, chairman, Oxfam, 1995-2001, 76; Dr David Kimble, Vice-Chancellor, University of Malawi, 1977-86, 87; Professor Colin Mayer, economist, 55; Jenni Murray, broadcaster, 58; Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of Oxford University, 64; Surgeon Vice-Admiral Sir John Rawlins, Medical Director-General (Royal Navy), 1977-80, 86; Rosalind Savill, director, The Wallace Collection, 57; Frederick Smithies, general secretary, National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, 1983-90, 79; Dr Miriam Stoppard, writer and broadcaster, 71; Deborah Warner, theatre director, 49; Steve Winwood, rock singer, 60.