This book won’t make happy reading in the May household, with its detailed accounts of how the Cameroons sniped about “the Maybot” behind her back. Many people have commented on her referring to her father throughout as “Sir John” (Nott) and her mother-in-law, the Dowager Marchioness of Townshend as “the Dowager”; I can almost imagine her glee as she reads the reviews from people frothing at the mouth at this supposed evidence of snobbishness – I saw it as ironic and intentional – almost hoping to get a rise out of the silly readers. I was pleased to have all my prejudices about Sir John Nott confirmed (a cursed name in many Naval households). On a visit to stay with the then chancellor George Osborne, at his “moderately large” grace-and-favour mansion, the 21-room Dorneywood, her Notting Hill sensibilities are even offended by the outré pink tiles in her suite.

Set against a backdrop of country house shooting weekends and boozy dinners at Chequers, but seen through the sceptical eyes of a woman one step removed from the head-butting stags, there is acute political intelligence at work from Lady Swire, wife of Sir Hugo Swire, former MP for East Devon from 2010-2016, a Minister of State for the Northern Ireland Office and Foreign Office and who was the daughter of John Nott. Somewhere, unknown to his or her colleagues, a secret scribbler will already be at work, documenting the rise and, in due course, no doubt, the fall of this administration" Well, here it is. The “mateocracy”, meanwhile, stayed in one another’s grace-and-favour homes, while furiously falling out over who had the best pad, the nicest curtains, the poshest official car or the biggest security detail. Whilst not actually “checking her privilege” as I believe the term is, she was certainly aware of it.At first it proved ideal shallow bedtime reading – entertaining gossipy disclosures about the world of Cameron, Osborne, Johnson, Gove, Raab etc. Ten years ago, reviewing Alastair Campbell's diaries for the Spectator, I concluded as follows: "Who will be the chroniclers of the Cameron government? Insecure but fiercely precocious, the young Sontag devours everything that culture offers up to her.

To the evident lack of understanding of their mother, they became followers of Jeremy Corbyn and his hope for a better Britain.After all, this is the same Dave who on another now-infamous occasion blamed pheromones for wanting to drag her into nearby bushes to “give her one”.