Cherie Blair has been “petty” and “spiteful” in her memoirs, making her unsuitable for the judiciary, a former judge said this weekend.

Blair, a part-time judge, has already been urged to resign from the bench by one retired judge, Gerald Butler QC. Now another, Leo Charles QC, has said Blair’s memoirs show she is ill-suited for promotion.

Charles was particularly aggrieved by her comments about Lord Irvine, the former lord chancellor, who gave Blair her first job as a barrister but is treated harshly in Speaking for Myself, which recounts tales of him being “very drunk” and spoiling the Blairs’ wedding.

Charles said: “She has behaved very indiscreetly. It is petty nonsense; if you have any respect for Irvine’s position, you don’t do this. I don’t think she has acted judiciously.”

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• The night I hated Tony

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Responding to Butler’s criticism last week, Cherie said she was “sad” if anyone was angered by her book.

Additional reporting: Georgia Warren

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