Eight years ago - a very long time indeed in politics - a shroud-white Peter Mandelson sat in Tony Blair's study begging for his life. "Are you really telling me that you are going to end my political career over this?" he beseeched his friend. "Yes," replied the prime minister bleakly, but firmly. "I'm afraid I am."

That summary dismissal, over the Hinduja affair, was the second time he was fired from the cabinet. His first death was triggered by Gordon Brown's assassination squad who took him out with the revelation of the Geoffrey Robinson home loan. Even Jesus Christ only got the one resurrection. No wonder Peter Benjamin Mandelson thought it was the end of his career in the frontline of British politics when he was dispatched from the cabinet for an unprecedented second...