SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR
'The wickedest political diaries since Alan Clark's' Daily Mail
'Riotously candid' Decca Aitkenhead, Sunday Times
'An acute political intelligence at work' Guardian
'Glorious, compelling, jaw-dropping' Evening Standard
What is it like to be a wife of a politician in modern-day Britain? Sasha Swire finally lifts the lid.
For more than twenty years she has kept a secret diary detailing the trials and tribulations of being a political plus-one, and gives us a ringside seat at the seismic political events of the last decade. A professional partner and loyal spouse, Swire has strong political opinions herself - sometimes more 'No, Minister' than 'Yes'. She detonates the stereotype of the dutiful wife.
From shenanigans in Budleigh Salterton to state banquets at Buckingham Palace, gun-toting terrorist busters in pizza restaurants to dinners in Downing Street sitting next to Boris Johnson, Devon hedges to partying with City hedgies, she observes the great and the not-so-great at the closest of quarters. The results are painfully revealing and often hilariously funny. Here are the friendships and the fall-outs, the general elections and the leadership contests, the scandals and the rivalries. Swire showed up, shored up and rarely shut up. She also wrote it all down.
Diary of an MP's Wife is a searingly honest, wildly indiscreet and often uproarious account of what life is like in the thick of it.
A Book of the Year in the New Statesman, Financial Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Mail on Sunday and The Times
What is it like to be a wife of a politician in modern-day Britain? Sasha Swire finally lifts the lid. For over two decades she has kept a secret diary detailing the trials and tribulations of being a political plus-one; the travel, the security, the challenges to family life and the unpredictable events. A professional partner, as well as a life partner, and one with strong political opinions herself, she detonates the image of the dutiful stereotype. Swire gives us a ringside seat through the great political events of the decade, from the election of David Cameron and the forming of a coalition, three general elections, to the referendum and the turmoil of Brexit. She speaks candidly about the key players, at work and in repose. It is a searingly honest, wildly indiscreet and often humorous account of what life is like inside the Westminster hot house.
Diary of an MP's Wife is an irresistible, informal history and a rare tell-all about what it's really like to live behind the headlines of British political life. No one sees more than an observant wife and Sasha Swire's beady eye makes her a natural reporter! Her sharp vignettes and tart sense of humor make for compulsive reading. I do hope she keeps going!
