Kwasi Kwarteng MP: No-one we spoke to foresaw the rise of the Salafists. But we are optimistic about the future of democracy in Egypt.

Kwasi Kwarteng is the MP for Spelthorne

In March last year the Conservative Middle East Council (CMEC) took a delegation to Egypt in the direct aftermath of the events of 25th January.

Given the significance of what was happening, we decided to take a couple of further delegations in the ensuing months.  We also thought it was a good idea to keep a record of what was going on.

The product of our efforts is Egypt 2011: Revolution and Transition. It is really a short record of what a small group of foreign politicians made of the great events which swept Egypt during 2011.

It will be a year to remember in the Arab world. Over time, naturally, people will see trends which now seem obscure. Our job in the pamphlet was to record, as sincerely as we could, our thoughts as events unfolded. We were lucky enough to be able to return to Egypt on two subsequent occasions and engage with many people in the political scene there.

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