Exceeding My Brief by Barbara Hosking

This is an absolute delight - what a life!
 
This is the story of a Cornish scholarship girl with no contacts who ended up in the corridors of power serving two British Prime Ministers. She also just happened to be lesbian and had a lively time visitng the Gateways and finding girlfriends.
 
Between working on a copper mine in the African bush, serving as a press officer to Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, and pioneering British breakfast television, hers is a tale of breadth and bravery. At the age of ninety-two, Barbara Hosking reflects on her life and gives a compelling account of the innermost workings of politics and the media amid the turbulence of twentieth-century Britain.
 
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'A rollicking career and storied life.' - The Observer
 
'[A] warm, funny and illuminating book that guides readers through one woman’s journey down the corridors of Whitehall and through a slowly changing society. She did so at a time when being a woman and, in Barbara’s case, a gay woman meant the path was strewn with obstacles. It is a tribute to her guts, her resilience and her charm that she has emerged triumphant.' - Sue Cameron, Civil Service World 
 
'A remarkable tale, well told and often insightful. There don’t seem to be many Barbara Hoskings around anymore.' - The National
 
'A timely arrival on to the crowded political memoir market […]Hosking is probably the most influential woman you’ve never heard of.' - The Tides of History