Cherie bags book deal

Cherie Blair has struck a deal to publish her autobiography.

The memoirs of the wife of former prime minister Tony Blair will be released in October next year.

Publisher Little, Brown described the book as a "warm, intimate and often very funny portrait of a family living in extraordinary circumstances".

It has been suggested that the deal will be broken into £300,000 lump sums. The former PM has acquired a leading American lawyer to negotiate a publishing deal for his memoirs - expected to be worth £6 million.

Little, Brown would not discuss how much they were paying for Mrs Blair's autobiography.

However, her book is almost certain to beat her husband's to the bookshelves.

Interest is likely to centre on what she has to say about the famously stormy relationships both she and her husband had with his successor Gordon Brown.

Although Mr Blair's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell has already published the first instalment of his diaries, he left out much of the material on the much talked about Blair-Brown relationship.

It was unclear whether Mrs Blair will need official clearance for her book.

A spokeswoman for Little, Brown said: "Any procedure that needs to be followed will be followed."

Mrs Blair has previously co-authored a book, The Goldfish Bowl, about how the wives of previous prime ministers coped with life in No 10.

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