IN THE THICK OF IT: The Private Diaries of a Minister

Elected as MP for Rutland and Melton in 1992, Sir Alan Duncan has been at the heart of British politics for 30 years. He spearheaded William Hague's leadership campaign and in 2002 was the first MP to come out as openly gay. Becoming a minister in David Cameron's government and serving in a succession of roles under May and Johnson, Duncan has had opportunities to observe the people and processes of recent government at very close quarters. With natural Eurosceptic instincts, Duncan is a pragmatist who finally voted Remain in 2016, feeling that the fallout from Brexit would outweigh any disadvantages of continuing membership and that the "barrage of Farage" had no place in the Conservative Party. At the Foreign Office, Duncan observed the contrasting styles of Theresa May and Boris Johnson. May made some serious errors of judgment but was a "grown-up doing her best in an impossible situation". Johnson brought a much-needed spark into politics but Duncan was angered by his nakedly ambitious manoeuvrings. A theme of Duncan's foreign policy is his friendship with the Sultan of Oman, dating from his time in the oil industry before becoming an MP, and these diaries tell the story of how the Middle East was perversely excluded from his portfolio when he was at the foreign office. When May started losing power, "Boris plots relentlessly with the scheming Gove" while "Rees-Mogg is just incessantly over the top" and Gavin Williamson as chief whip was "an inexperienced schemer, only in it for himself". On a sombre note, following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Duncan starts a list of all the Saudi "disappeared". When Johnson finally stands down and the time comes for people to declare their candidacy, "The freak show widens". "Mark Francois is at Hay-on-Wye literary festival. A bit odd when he isn't capable of reading a book." If you enjoy a bit of abrasive political commentary, this is one for you. 578pp, colour photos.