A dark tale of insider dealing

For the most part political diarists are located on the fringes rather than at the centre of power. The two finest British journals from the 20th century were written by failures — Alan Clark and Chips Channon. Only rarely did they gain the sustained access they craved to the great figures of their day. They were looking in hungrily from outside, yearning for advancement which never came. Both journals gain a great deal of narrative pace and comic structure from this frenetic search for power and status. The reader knows, but the diarist does not, that the quest is doomed.

Alastair Campbell, by contrast, was at the centre. His comparatively lowly title of press secretary, enhanced to director of strategy and communications after 2001, gave no hint of his true importance. He spoke to the prime minister dozens of times a day. For long periods he and Tony Blair would see more of each other than of their immediate families. From 1998, the year that Campbell established personal dominance over his rival Peter Mandelson, he was to all intents and purposes the main political and strategic adviser to the prime minister. He maintained this status till 2003, when he hurriedly left Downing Street in the wake of the death of the government scientist David Kelly.

Normally a figure in this kind of dominant position would lack the time and the motivation to write a diary. However, Alastair Campbell was an extremely skilful tabloid journalist to whom words came easily. Second, and probably more important, he was a reformed alcoholic. Most busy people, at the end of a long and stressful day, simply lack the energy to compile a diary. If they are sensible they probably have a couple of drinks and unwind by putting their feet up in front of the TV.