The Secret Diary of David Cameron (39 1/2)

Actually not so secret - they were serialised in the Guardian from his election in 2001 up until 2004. What's a bit surprising is that they're really rather good - light, self-deprecating and amusing. It's enough to make you hope he's keeping a diary. Couple of samples:

There is nothing so dead as parliament in recess. The bars are shut, the tearoom has closed down (sob) and the cleaners shoot glances as if you are some kind of freak. I pass David Davis MP (Haltemprice and Howden) in the corridor, only for him to say: "didn't they tell you there was a recess." He wouldn't have said that a month ago when he was after my vote in the leadership contest. (Anyway, what is he doing here?)

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Six months of being an opposition MP - and I have finally cracked what it's all about. The difference between being in government and being in opposition is incredibly simple. In government you spend the entire time wondering why no one can see all the good things you've achieved. In opposition you spend the whole time moaning that people should realise just how bad everything is. This leads to the most depressing aspect of opposition: part of you actually starts wanting things to get worse.

It's a shame, although inevitable I suppose, that he stopped writing them, but they give an intriguing insight into how Cameron thinks. He writes a whole lot better than Brown does at any rate.

UPDATE: How about this for example?

I am an instinctive libertarian who abhors state prohibitions and tends to be sceptical of most government action, whether targeted against drug use or anything else. And on the drugs issue, libertarians and sceptics can have a field day. About the only thing all our witnesses agreed on was that the government's strategy was a failure and prohibition over many decades had not worked.