When How To Be A Minister was first published in 1980, it received rave reviews. When it was out of print, copies became as prized as gold-dust and were known to disappear from the House of Commons Library. Recommended to incoming ministers in the Thatcher and Major governments by the Cabinet Office, it is also used as a primer by overseas governments. Gerald Kaufman, former Minister and Shadow Cabinet member, brought the book up-to-date in this revised edition. It remains the most authoritative guide to the processes of government ever published as well as being uproariously funny, with an almost never-ending stream of witty one-liners and joyous and/or scurrilous anecdotes.