That Was Hugo Blythe MP is the professional journal, presented in diary form, of government researcher Alaric Casteele. Casteele's diary is a skilful interchange between events in his domestic life, and his meticulous eavesdropping into the political intrigues levelled against his boss Hugo Blythe, a government minister pivotal in the New Labour project, climaxing as a general election approaches. Casteele soon discovers the department he's been appointed to, and the ministers heading it, have enslaved themselves to the prevailing culture of celebrity, with its strictures of media visibility and attention to self-image. He further discovers that there are plots against his boss Hugo Blythe, and in gathering evidence to confirm his suspicions embarks on a strictly illegal means of surveillance, at great personal risk. His two principal suspects are the Right Honourable Tamara Sorr MP, and the Right Honourable Arabella Jury MP - also of Hugo's department.