Diary of an MP’s Wife: Inside and Outside Power, by Sasha Swires

Nothing like a nice bit of well written bitchiness to lighten the mood. The author is married to Hugo Swires, who appears to be the archetypal Tory: amiable, not especially bright, posh but not rich, inculcated with a vague sense of public service and right and wrong, mental processes utterly short circuited by anyone who is rich. The diary covers the time from Cameron’s first election victory, when Swires became Northern Ireland minister, to his deliberate retirement at BoJo’s victory a couple of years ago. Fascinating insights into famous people before they were famous – Rees-Smug, Raab C. Brexit (as she calls him) and the rest of them. She was under no illusions about our current PM right from the start, and because she wasn’t then writing for publication she pulls no punches.