The latest volume of diaries from the bestselling author of A View from the Foothills, A Walk-On Part and Decline and Fall.

When I retired from Parliament in April 2010, I ceased keeping a diary, on the assumption that life would no longer be of sufficient interest to justify doing so. It soon became apparent that I was wrong and so before long I resumed.

As readers of the previous volume may recall, my decision to retire was accompanied by a great deal of angst. I always knew there was a life outside politics, but I wasn't confident that there would be any demand for my services. As I wrote at the time, leaving earlier than I need have done was either the best or the worst decision of my life. I wasn't sure which. As it happens it has turned out well. This past decade has seen some of the best years of my life.

I am under no illusion, however. Despite the occasional moment in the sunshine, I have never been much more than a fleabite on the body politic. On a visit to Parliament a couple of years after retiring, I came across a former colleague. He peered at me over the top of his glasses and said, 'Didn't you use to be Chris Mullin?'

'Thank you,' I replied. 'That will be the title of Volume 4.'