A posh-sounding Northumbrian

To quote Mayor Boris Johnson on the installation of fans on the London Underground, I was "chuffed to bits" to be invited to the launch of Total Politics magazine last night.

Hats off to publisher Iain Dale who battled illness to deliver a warmly received and witty speech. I particularly enjoyed his praise of one of the magazine's PR companies - "Olly Kendall of Insight Public Affairs tells us that had we paid ad rates for the media coverage we've had, it would have cost £30,000... He'll be after his fee, then." The coverage on the blogs has also been extensive, I'm sure they've earned that fee.

Having got a bit merry on the free champagne I somehow missed the piles of complimentary copies on the way out (and the opportunity to own a Total Politics jute bag... damn!) and so bought a copy in WH Smith on the way home tonight.  I largely agree with Mike Smithson's review, and have to confess I found myself skimming rather than reading. In all honesty I enjoyed the piece advising sharp-suited young politicos where to get those sharp suits the most - what that says about me, I don't know.

It's an exciting development however, and I'm sure it will go from strength to strength. Iain's previous venture, 18 Doughty Street, was wide open to the charge that it was 'Tory TV' - Total Politics appears to have lived up to its politically neutral mantra in the first edition, though a doting reference to Thatcher in the editor's intro did make me balk a little.

All in all though, I enjoyed it enough to want to buy issue two, which is the name of the game.

Oh... and my favourite moment of the evening was Guido Fawkes grabbing the person I was talking to and whisking them off with a "I don't know your name, which is unfortunate. Goodbye." I didn't even have time to swallow my canape. Bravo!