Former Edinburgh MP John Barrett writes novel telling his life story - and a bit more

‘I realised I never knew what my grandparents did in their lives’

Former Edinburgh MP John Barrett has written a novel – with a hero who bears an uncanny resemblance to himself.

It's set on the Greek island of Kalymnos where the main character – an ex-politician called John – has designed a house for his daughter. He spends some time on the island, despairs of the chaotic travel options for visitors and the rundown hotels and decides to organise improvements, then finds himself in a battle with the island's corrupt mayor and is pressed to stand for election himself.

Mr Barrett, who served as a Lib Dem councillor and then MP for Edinburgh West from 2001 until 2010, decided to write the book – The Mayor of Kalymnos – for his four grandchildren. "I was recovering from cancer and I thought what I need is peace and quiet to write my life story. I realised I never really knew what my grandparents did in their lives. My mum's dad came from Germany and he never talked about his life. We went over and visited the German relatives years ago and one of them said my grandad's cousin was executed. It turned out he was one of the people who blew up Adolf Hitler's Wolf's Lair – his heavily-guarded Eastern Front military headquarters in present-day Poland – and when Hiter was dragged out of the wreckage, people were rounded up, tortured and executed. That's the Tom Cruise movie Valkyerie.

John Barrett decided to write his life story - but as a work of fiction rather than a political memoir.

"We didn't know my grandad's story and there are other relatives who were involved in the Normandy landings, we didn't know their story, so I thought I'm going to write mine down. But I've read a lot of politicians' memoirs and a lot of them are deadly dull, so I thought rather than just write what happened to me I would make it into a work of fiction - and that's the idea: to have a story that's worth reading."

So some of the book is true and some of it is made up. The part about designing a house for his daughter on Kalymnos, however, is true. "When I left school I went to Heriot-Watt to do economics and accountancy, but quickly left and joined the family building firm, so I did spend time on the drawing board and also dealing with the building trades, so I did design the house."

And what about a passage where he recalls a Christmas meal with fellow Lib Dem MPs when they ended up in the Commons chamber trying out the front benches and one of them fell asleep in the Speaker’s chair? "That happened,” he says. “But I have changed the names to save their blushes."

Many of the people mentioned in the book – family, friends and colleagues – are, however, given their real names. And Mr Barrett jokes: “All my friends who are in it want George Clooney to play them when it becomes a movie and my wife Carol would like Kate Winslet to play her.” He says he did send a copy of the book to Richard Curtis who made Love Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral, just in case. “But I got an email back from his people to say he's concentrating on his charity work just now – a very polite way of saying thanks but no thanks.” He also sent one to singer-songwriter Dolly Parton, whom he met at Westminster some years ago.

He hopes people will enjoy the book. “People may look at it and wonder what's fact and what's fiction – if in doubt they can contact me on the website once they've read it.” What about the grandchildren he wrote it for in the first place, is he giving them a misleading picture of his life? “I can brief them as to what's real and what's not.” And he says he is already thinking of the plot for Part Two.

The book is available at two bookshops in the Capital – Pippin Gifts at 30 Haymarket Terrace and D & S McLean, 27 Corstorphine High Street – as well as on Amazon or via the book’s own website.