Sonya Mair fixed her lipstick and strolled into Selwyn Knox's office, closing the door behind her and settling her shapely rear on the arm of the easy chair in which her boss was stretched out...

"What good news is the lovely Sonya bringing me?"

"Well, a few things. I've got Rachel Thomson to agree to profile you in the Telegraph. She says she's particularly interested in where you buy your clothes and have your hair done. I told her she can come and have a look at the labels and inspect your parting... In the end, I did a deal with her: I told her if she'd include the line 'Selwyn Knox, increasingly seen as a credible successor to Andy Sheen as Project party leader,' we'd let the photographer do a shot of you changing your shirt."

Extract two

Andy Sheen paused and looked Selwyn Knox straight in the eye... "It is a very big brief, Selwyn. I do not disguise that. Creating a Department for Society is a brave move. People will criticise us. Perhaps they'll say we are overambitious. Perhaps they'll say society cannot be saved from itself. Perhaps they'll even say there is no such thing as society. But we know better. The Department for Society. It is a radical concept and we need a big man to be our Minister for Society. Are you that man, Selwyn? Can you step into those shoes?"

Selwyn Knox returned the Prime Minister's unblinking gaze, thought for a moment and nodded his head gravely.

"Yes, Prime Minister. I am - and I can."