In the Thick of It

The Private Diaries of a Minister

By: Alan Duncan

Narrated by: Alan Duncan

‘Sensational … One of the most explosive political diaries ever to be published … As candid, caustic and colourful as the sensational Alan Clark Diaries of the 1990s’ DAILY MAIL The Sunday Times bestseller

As Minister of State at the Foreign Office, Alan Duncan was once described as Boris Johnson’s ‘pooper-scooper’. For two years, he deputised for the then Foreign Secretary, now Prime Minister. Few are more attuned to Boris’s strengths and weaknesses as a minister and his suitability for high office than the man who helped clear up his mistakes.

Riotously candid, these diaries cover the most turbulent period in recent British political history – from the eve of the referendum in 2016 to the UK’s eventual exit from the EU. As two prime ministers fall, two general elections unfold and a no-confidence vote is survived, Duncan records a treasure-trove of insider gossip, giving biting and often hilarious accounts of petty rivalries, poor decision-making, big egos, and big crises.

Nothing escapes Alan’s acerbic gaze. Across these unfiltered daily entries, he builds a revealing and often profound picture of UK politics and personalities. A rich seam of high politics and low intrigue, this is an account from deep inside the engine room of power.

©2021 Alan Duncan (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘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

Insipid “Dear diary’s” of controversy.

…one monotonous yawn. A regurgitation of insipid “Dear diary’s” with carefully avoided controversy. Waste of money and worst of all my time! Didn’t find any of it entertaining or revealing. It merely confirmed, to me at least, that MPs spend the majority of their time, if not all of it, wining, dining and jetting off to meet greet, wine and dine some more at the public’s expense. The whole reason for entering into Parliament is to feather one’s nest as much as possible and the best way of fulfilling that aim is to have a Tory government, preferably with an old Eatonian as leader.