Cherie turns on Lord ‘Cupid’ Irvine

You would think that Cherie Blair might have a good word for Lord Irvine of Lairg (pictured), appointed Labour Lord Chancellor by her husband, especially as he is considered to be her legal mentor and also credited with bringing her and Tony together while they were young barristers working in his chambers. You would be mistaken. In her tawdry memoir Speaking For Myself, the former Prime Minister's wife rounds on him for his drunken antics, sexist attitudes and even his skill as an advocate.

Mrs Blair, who spent yesterday fending off calls from the legal profession that she should resign as a recorder (on the basis that her kiss-and-tell book shows little judgment for someone employed as a judge, albeit part-time), relates a tale about Derry Irvine's drinking which took place at her apartment in 1978. She says he turned up "very drunk" and proceeded to drink an "exceptionally good, exceptionally old, exceptionally expensive bottle of wine" she had hidden in a broom cupboard. She alleges he later became "nearly comatose".

However, this was nothing compared to her wedding day, when Irvine was asked to give a speech, a decision she now bitterly regrets. After styling himself the "Cupid QC", which she thought was in bad taste, Irvine proceeded to extol her husband's virtues. She writes: "It was all about Tony. How marvellous he was and how lucky I was to have him."

Mrs Blair also disputes the notion that Irvine played a central role in her legal career. "While Derry's written style would serve me well, as an advocate he was distinctly aggressive - hardly the ideal template for a 22-year-old lady barrister."

But Irvine has come off better than another member of the legal profession, John Higham, QC. In her autobiography, Mrs Blair identifies him as the boyfriend on whom she cheated when she first began her relationship with her soon-to-be husband. On Thursday, Higham, understandably upset to be called a former love of Mrs Blair, said: "I've never been out with Cherie Blair. She's referring to someone else." Poor man.