The Blair era memoir that really will be worth reading

The memoirs of Cherie Blair, Lord Levy and John Prescott have all made this week even more difficult for Gordon Brown than it otherwise would have been. But I suspect that none of these books will survive the test of time.

Alistair Campbell’s diaries might once the full version comes out but I suspect that the really great memoir of the Blair era will be Peter Mandelson’s. Mandelson was at the heart of events throughout and his shift from Brown to Blair can be seen as the moment when it became clear that the power that relationship had shifted.

Those who think that it would be a hagiography of Blair should bear in mind his criticisms of Blair over Northern Ireland. Also in his—unfair—second sacking, Mandelson saw up close Blair’s weakness in the face of pressure and an irate Campbell.

Mandelson steps down as a European Commissioner in November 2009. Hopefully, he’ll take up his pen soon after with his book coming out just after Brown’s defeat brings the whole era to an end.