Described by Le Point, the magazine which published the papers, as a "voyage under the skirts of the Republic", the extracts of the handwritten diaries of Yves Bertrand delve deep into private lives of France's political elite.

Mr Bertrand, 64, a former confidante of the former president Jacques Chirac, was sacked by President Nicolas Sarkozy when he dismantled the Renseignements Généraux (RG) police intelligence service.

His 23 spiral-bound notebooks, which he compiled between 1998 and 2003, contain a mixture of facts and baseless rumour. Le Point said they were "stored vials to be distilled like poison at the right time".

They suggest that the RG's notorious reputation as a tool for French presidents to keep tabs on and eliminate rivals - often using information gleaned from anonymous tip-offs - was fully deserved.

Mr Bertrand was both loathed and feared by many in government, including interior ministers to whom in theory he answered – among them the current French president.

Nothing escaped the Bertrand radar, no detail was too trivial: from a former minister whom he alleged failed to pay his bill in a top Parisian hotel to a cabinet minister's "Polish mistress". Other former ministers were labelled "gay", "swinger" and "sex- and cocaine-mad."

His loyalty lay with Mr Chirac – president from 1995 to 2007 – for whom critics claim he ran a "dark cabinet" whose aim was to protect the former president and his allies at all costs. Mr Chirac, 74, is only mentioned rarely, including a 2003 entry in which he writes: "Chirac had a face-lift in Canada".

However, Mr Sarkozy – Mr Chirac's one-time arch-rival – crops up often, as does his entourage.

In one passage, Mr Bertrand alleges that a politician had an affair with the wife of a senior Right-wing politician.

Writing long before Mr Sarkozy was elected president, Mr Bertrand describes his ex-wife Cècilia as a "party animal".

Responding to the leaked notes, Mr Bertrand said: "My words shouldn't be taken as Gospel just because I write this or that about someone. These notebooks, which are of a private nature, should be considered as rough drafts".