Social and economic diversity have been greater problems in law than gender, the wife of former prime minister Tony Blair said.

“It’s about whether a girl like me could make it to law school or if she could get to law school, could she afford to spend the vast amount of money you have to spend now to qualify as a lawyer and then could you support yourself during pupillage.”

Ms Blair, who now runs legal advisory practice, Omnia Strategy, made the remarks in a video interview posted by the First 100 Years project, which promotes the entry of women to the profession a century ago.

She added: “It is much more difficult now for working class…. people from disadvantaged backgrounds to come into law in the first place because of the way we fund our system.

“That’s something I feel very passionate about, something I try and work on…because we do actually need diversity in the legal profession.

“We are actually going backwards. I think there are fewer state-educated people coming into the legal profession now than in the past.”

“I do love the law - it’s amazing to be able to use it to influence social change, right wrongs, fight injustices - I still believe in that,” she said.