SKY NEWS ANCHORWOMAN Kay Burley released her debut novel earlier First Ladies earlier this week.

A self-described steamy political satire, the novel deals with “suave” prime minister Julian Benson and his clearly badly disguised attraction to “sexy” TV reporter Isla McGovern – a problem, given the fact that the PM is a married man.

But his wife, Valerie, is hitting the bottle – and faces another rival in the form of celebrity magazine editor Sally Simpson.

When the book first made headlines last year – after Burley was told to remove certain references about the three female protagonists, following her assertion that “readers will certainly recognise” their real-life inspiration – many thought the book could be a potential tell-all about the private and personal lives of one of Britain’s more recent prime ministers.

It transpires, though, that the book is a little less politically explosive, and instead is an early contender for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award for 2011.

We won’t dwell on the subject – instead we’ll just leave you with a selection of quotes, mostly preened from the Guardian’s coverage of the book earlier this week.

He smiled at the memory of her slowly pouring champagne into a Waterford Crystal flute in his bedroom … she’d mischievously dribbled the contents of the glass onto the most eager parts of his anatomy. Leaning forward she had taken him to the very edge of control before lying back again and allowing herself to succumb to his meticulous attention.

The sound made Isla jump but Julian had already spun back around and was lifting her from her feet. She eagerly wrapped her long legs expectantly around him.

Leaning on the edge of the enormous walnut and leather inlay desk he now slowly began to unbutton her silk blouse … Isla was mightily relieved she had always heeded her mother’s guidance of wearing good underwear, though that advice had no doubt been for other reasons.

He instantly turned and swept away every bit of clutter from his leather-topped desk, knocking over a Waterford Crystal water jug in his urgency, which smashed into tiny shards as it crashed to the ground.

At that exact moment, Julian was expertly using his silver tongue to offer intense gratification to Sally as he held on firmly to her taut, tanned thighs, tightly gripped around his handsome face.

Lithe and muscular, he effortlessly lifted her from the bed and onto his broad shoulders. Sally felt all the excitement and exhilaration of a fairground ride as he continued to offer intense pleasure before she was finally sated and he lowered her gently back onto the round bed. Julian flopped contentedly beside her.

Should Burley scoop any silverware for her debut tome then our venerable former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, would be entitled to bask in its reflected glory: he’s listed in the first page of acknowledgements for his help in setting the (admittedly brief) Dublin-based passages of the book.