The Ashdown Diaries, Volune 2: 1997-1999

The Ashdown Diaries #2

by Paddy Ashdown

The first volume of Paddy Ashdown's acclaimed diaries ended on 2 May 1997, the day after Labour gained its landslide victory and the Lib Dems won more seats than at any time since 1929, with the fateful "Tony starts his Prime Ministership with a tidal wave of hope and good will behind him. A new age". But was it? This second volume takes us from that post-electoral euphoria to the moment when Paddy Ashdown, believing he had taken his party as far as he could, stands down as leader. For four years he and Tony Blair had worked closely on a project intended to totally realign the Left in British politics. Ashdown's account reveals that having missed the chance to bring their plan to fruition immediately after the election, he and Blair tried again in November 1997 and once more a year later. It ultimately failed because of Blair's belief that he could not overcome the opposition within his own Cabinet. During their many meetings - some in the midle of the night -Ashdown and Blair built up the closest relationship of any two British political leaders in modern times. Here, for the first time, is the gripping story of their complex and secret talks on how and when Ashdown should lead his party into the government. Intertwined with this tale of high politics, formidable willpower and strong emotion are two other great stories of Paddy Ashdown's the astonishing truth behind the Lib-Lab pact in the Scottish parliament and his involvement at the very highest level, both in the field and behind the scenes, in the Kosovo war. Candid, shrewd and exciting, the diaries present a vivid inside picture of Westminster, and the most intimate portrait yet of Blair and his government.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Diary, Biography, Autobiography

572 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2001

About the author

Following service as a Royal Marine Commando officer of a Special Boat Service unit in the Far East, Paddy Ashdown served as a diplomat in the Foreign Officer before, in due course, being elected as the Member of Parliament for Yeovil, serving in that capacity from 1983 to 2001.

Ashdown went on to serve as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. Afterwards, he was appointed as the international community's High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving from 2002 to 2006.

Ashdown is also an author of many books, which include 'A Brilliant Little Operation (which won the British Army Military History Prize for 2013) and 'The Cruel Victory.'

Reviews

[Ipswichblade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent second volume of diaries but not as interesting as the first one

[Jim Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paddy Ashdown was the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third party in British politics. It was created in 1987, from the merger of 2 smaller parties, and Ashdown lead the party from its foundation to 1999. This book covers the time from 1997, when Labour won a surprise landslide victory, through 1999, when he resigned as leader.

This book wasn't bad, but by this stage, the Lib Dems were an established fact (there was much less in fighting to talk about), and he wasn't really able to build much common ground with the Labour Party because of the size of their majority.

Back when I did my doctorate, I remember my doctoral advisor warning people not to get into a position where you’re discussing how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. Much the same could be said about this book. It spent a lot of time on the Ashdown/Blair discussions about the relationship between their parties, when anyone around at the time knew little would come of it. So you might end up thinking "Remind me again why I'm reading this?"

Couple this with the fact he spends much time considering British military activity in Kosovo, which feels quaint after 9/11. and your left thinking "Not much happened in the late 1990s." too,

So all in all, it was a decent read, but you're possibly going to end up not getting a huge amount out of this book, factually, at least.