The old astrologers knew Scorpio as " the accursed sign", a description which will no doubt hit the mark at Conservative Central Office following the showing of 'Unspun - Amanda Platell's Secret Diary'. It has been no secret that the video diary of the election campaign was out to get Michael Portillo, but it has also served to create a smoke screen to distract from her failure as the Tories' PR manager. Anything to bail her out of the sinking ship, but despite accusations of betrayal and distrust, her career prospects look good.

With a clutch of four planets in Scorpio (November 12 1957, 1am30 CCT, Perth), Ms Platell has treated us to a dramatic enactment of the secretive, dark heart of the Scorpion, with its manipulation, wilfulness, intensity, obsession, spite, betrayal and desire for revenge. In its unevolved form, this is the sign of " anger and resentment, fierce rebellion, mad jealousy and vindictive hate ... when he is bad he is thoroughly bad, make no mistake about it " (Isabelle Pagan). What's more, Scorpios " are not above creating dreadful scenes just to get a reaction. For them, it is perhaps better to feel terrible than to feel nothing " (Anna Kruger).

Like all the water signs, Scorpio is a master of image. Platell's most potent attack on Portillo came from the ridiculous impression of him as odd man out, apparently muscling in on a happy families photo call for William and Ffion with John and Norma Major. Calculated to linger, this absurd image of a transient moment manifests Ms Platell's Mars-Neptune conjunction, falling exactly on the nadir of Portillo's horoscope (May 26 1953, 10am45 BST). Although the diary is low on substance and high on innuendo, drip by poisonous drip she has contributed to the general impression of Portillo as damaged goods.

That other traditional staple of the Scorpio diet - sex - may have poked its way into this story, too, in the guise of homosexuality. Platell was forced out of her editorship at the Sunday Express over her revelations about Mandelson's Brazilian lover. With her thorough-going and investigative Scorpio skills, it would be surprising if she hadn't attempted to follow up Portillo's account of his own gay student days.

The timing of her exposure bears the imprint of cold, calculating Saturn, which crossed over the Midheaven of her horoscope within hours of the programme being broadcast. This is a peak achievement for her, and shows that the entire endeavour has been meticulously engineered, step-by-step. Saturn on her Midheaven is repeated on 15 December this year and on 2 April 2002, and Pluto is also active in her horoscope in October, around the time of the Tory conference. So from the astrology, it appears that this matter is far from over and Ms Platell is not closing an account with the Tories, but opening the book on Portillo.

Since the power of the secret is lost in the moment of its revelation, a really secretive Scorpio rarely tells all. Who knows what else lies hidden in these murky Scorpio depths?