In the Thick of It

SIR ALAN DUNCAN was the UK’s Foreign Minister, and the de facto Deputy Foreign Secretary, from 2016 to 2019. He was the Member of Parliament for Rutland and Melton until stepping down in 2019. For the past thirty years, he has been at the centre of British political life. He has been at the heart of every Conservative Party leadership race since John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher in 1990, spearheading William Hague’s 1997 leadership campaign, and has held senior positions such as Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and Shadow Minister for Justice. He was the first ever openly gay Conservative MP, coming out in 2002.One of UK politics’ most forthright and engaging personalities, Alan is recognised as one of the best-connected and well-informed experts on the Middle East and, as Johnson’s deputy in the Foreign Office, sat in the very midst of everything in government that took place between the EU referendum and the UK’s eventual exit from the EU in January 2020.

‘Sensational … Johnson’s Cabinet [has been] rocked … It is unprecedented for a politician to lift the lid on feuding in the corridors of power so soon after leaving office … One of the most explosive political diaries ever to be published … Candid, caustic and colourful … In the style of great political diaries like those by Clark or Chips Channon that capture the spirit of the age. The political memoir of the year’Daily Mail‘More than merely bracingly readable … Duncan chronicles the despair, bafflement, plotting and rising acrimony’The Times‘In the Thick of It initially grabbed the headlines thanks to the sheer gleeful bitchiness of the insults littered throughout. But there’s a more serious message at the heart of this book … Duncan frankly has a point; that after four years of purging remain supporters from the Tory ranks, what’s left is hardly a government of titans’Gaby Hinscliff, Guardian‘Thoughtful and nuanced … Alan’s insights into the role of a foreign office minister provide many of the highlights of the book. I am enjoying it immensely’Iain Dale‘A compelling compendium of high gossip and low intrigue, full of withering put-downs and waspish observations’Rachel Sylvester, The Times‘The diaries are thoughtful, but can be brutal. The book contains deep thought about Britain’s long-term foreign policy objectives, enlivened by highly amusing recollections’Salma Shah, Spectator‘Always witty, usually waspish and unremittingly withering about those for whom he does not care … Closely observed, perceptive, amusing … They are fascinating; they are riveting’Christopher Pincher, The Critic‘One of the most sensational, no-holds-barred political diaries of the decade’Tatler‘I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Alan Duncan’s incendiary diaries, in which he buries more bodies than a Mafia undertaker’Piers Morgan'Hugely entertaining'John Humphrys