On that first evening my feet were killing me, so I decided to give Alistair McAlpine's chic do a miss and curl up in bed with Susan's book instead. After the party, when Nigel came back upstairs, he said: "You'll never guess who was there - Susan Crosland." I was quite excited because I wanted to meet her. Having worked in the House of Commons Library, I knew him a little - as I knew most of the MPs. By chance, I was, at the time, deeply into her book about Tony. Shrublands is like an oasis where we see each other clothed and naked. It's an intimacy I wouldn't want to share with many of my friends.THERESE LAWSON: It was obvious that I'd be at the Tory party conference in Blackpool in 1983 because I'd be with Nigel, but it was a surprise to meet Susan there.

Both her husbands have been intellectuals and many of her admirers are intellectuals. Six years ago, Therese introduced me to Shrublands Health Farm, and we go there once a year. I have dust-ups with men in a way which I could never imagine having with Therese.It's my impression that she and Nigel discuss politics a great deal Therese is a very intelligent woman. She was a sparky chatelaine at No 11, where it was not easy to bring up two young children.Both of us are fascinated by how the other manages her life, but, even with Therese, there are parts of my life which remain private - which I only discuss with the person who is involved in that particular part She is always sensitive to that - never probing We don't have rows.

One of reasons that Therese and I are so interested in each other is that we aren't peas in a pod. Like many Cath-olics, Therese is a bit zany - dutiful, vulnerable and penitent, and then hares off and does whatever she wants.I'm sure we're attracted to each other's irreverence about the crazy life of politics Therese is very much her own woman. Therese Medawer, working at the National Consumer Council, gave birth to a boy and a couple of years later, Nigel Lawson moved into her small house Wandsworth. In 1980, they were able to marry and their second child, a girl, was born a year later." It was only after my piece was published that our friendship could develop We met for dinner at my home, at No 11 or in restaurants. It seemed to me important in the context of Nigel's risk-taking as a politician, so I asked him about it He said, "That's for Therese.