The epitome of the "Tony's cronies" phenomenon, Lord Falconer has risen effortlessly to Cabinet rank with more than a little help from his friends.

As he heads up a new Department of Constitutional Affairs the minister will come under greater scrutiny than ever before.

But despite being a close associate of Tony Blair, his supporters say his talent has counted as much, if not more, than any nepotism or patronage.

He was parachuted into the Lords at the prime minister's behest - but since then has had to punch his weight to prove his worth.

As former flatmates from their barrister days, the prime minister knew he could trust Falconer with sensitive government briefs.

Blair tried to secure a Commons seat for his friend on becoming party leader in 1994.

But for all his dextrous verbal skills Falconer could not persuade the selection committees to pick him.

Had he done so, the sure-footed Scottish lawyer may have made it to the top sooner than now.

But the limited number of Lords' seats available at the Cabinet table have restricted him to a selection of key junior jobs.

Being a QC made him the perfect choice as Blair's first solicitor general in 1997.

His access to Downing Street gave him clout as Cabinet Office minister without portfolio from 1998 to 2001.

During that period he was lumbered with the poisoned chalice of the millennium dome.

Having had little say in the project until it was too late, Falconer escaped much of the flak for the attraction's failure.

But he struggled to sell the Dome to a sceptical public and found even more difficulty in attracting a buyer for the Greenwich site after its closure in 2001.

In Blair's eyes, however, he lost little esteem and after the general election was rewarded with the taxing task of planning reform.

Last year he was shifted again, this time to beef up the Home Office as minister for criminal justice, sentencing and law reform.

His departure leaves that department - for a day at least - without both its ministers of state.

Taking a huge pay cut from his well paid legal work to join the government he has impressed civil servants with his hard work, attention to detail and sure footed media work.

Educated at Trinity College Cambridge he is married with four children.