State Political Editor of The Sydney Alexandra Smith overcame the former Premier’s secretive personality to research her book into the rise and sordid fall of the state leader.

“There are a lot of bits about Gladys Berejiklian that were not widely known,” said Ms Smith in an interview with the Minnimal podcast. “A lot of the things I discovered about Gladys surprised me, even though I had been writing about her for many years and have known her for many years.”

Ms Smith said even Ms Berejikian’s most strongly held views, such as her early opposition to the Liberal Party’s tolerance of racism under John Howard, were hidden from the general public.