Damian McBride: Why I clutched at my trousers in front of Jeremy Paxman

They say nothing beats the feeling of seeing your book in print. But for me, the proudest moment was presenting the first copy to my Mum. She’s been ill recently and I read her most of the chapters in draft while she was convalescing, albeit leaving out the nasty bits. I sat with her that evening, reading her more of the book and feeling quite pleased with it. But the nervous feeling kicked in the next day when I saw the first extracts in the Daily Mail, and heard some of the reactions from the media and Labour folk. It strikes me as bizarre that people would reach conclusions and issue condemnations after reading 2 per cent of the book, but it didn’t stop them piling in. I’d joked a few weeks ago about needing to locate my tin hat before publication; now I was really looking for it. Alastair Campbell is saving Biteback Publishing a fortune in advertising.