FORMER BRITISH prime minister Tony Blair’s memoirs are set to break all records for sales of political autobiographies following unprecedented first-day sales in the UK helped by cut-price offers from a number of major booksellers.
A Journeyhas become the fastest-selling biography ever stocked by Waterstones, outperforming footballer David Beckham's account of his life.
A spokesman for the bookseller said: “We’ve never seen a book like this sell so quickly in one day. This is a serious book, a heavyweight political memoir. It’s selling in the sort of numbers you don’t see outside of mass market fiction with huge appeal – Dan Brown and JK Rowling are the competition here. We are bowled over. We are immensely pleased with the performance of the book on day one.”
Mr Blair’s decision to publish the book as Labour members cast their ballots in this month’s leadership election battle has complicated life for the front-runner, David Miliband, often dubbed as “the heir to Blair”.
Keen to promote his own leadership strengths, Mr Miliband issued a statement last night, saying: “I’m sick and tired of the caricature that this leadership election is a choice between rejecting or retaining New Labour.
“I want to change the way we do politics . . . I want to lead a government not a gang, a movement not a machine, where honest debate can be a source of strength, not a sign of weakness,” he said.
Mr Blair’s book has also reopened old wounds between himself and his successor at 10 Downing Street, Gordon Brown.
Yesterday, Mr Brown released details of his future public role: one dominated by a new charity foundation and funded by his income from speeches – a sharp contrast to Mr Blair’s multimillion-pound business activities.