Blair/Brown poison flows in Brighton

Damian McBride's political memoirs has come at an awkward time for the Labour leadership. Matthew Partridge reports.

Labour's party conference in Brighton this week was overshadowed by the publication of Damian McBride's memoirs. The book by Gordon Brown's former special adviser, which has been extensively serialised in the Daily Mail, claims that he tried to ruin the careers of several Blairite heavy-hitters, including Charles Clarke and John Reid, through damaging briefings.

McBride also "admitted tipping off the media about drug use, spousal abuse, alcoholism and extramarital affairs". These memoirs are "acutely awkward for Mr Miliband and Mr Balls", says the FT's Jim Pickard, because both men served under Gordon Brown for over a decade.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri