Academic high-flyer, Nicola Mallinson has no career plans or aspirations. Thanks to her influential university professor, she lands a job in Downing Street and, despite her initial junior role, is soon immersed in the intrigue and scheming that pervades Number 10. It's a sharp learning curve as she fights to cope with the problems generated by the self-serving Prime Minister and his reckless wife. She needs answers to daunting questions. Principles or pragmatism? Does the end ever justify the means? Her bosses at Number 10 - David, the PM's Chief of Staff and Tony, the hard-nosed Communications Director - face similar dilemmas. All three find ways of coming to terms with their disillusion and making major changes in their careers. And two of them discover a similar sense of purpose in their private lives.