Gordon Brown's former spin doctor has defended writing about his attacks on the ex-PM's opponents, saying Labour must "learn lessons from his mistakes".
Damian McBride told BBC Two's Newsnight he had not expected the reaction there had been to his revelations.
He said it would have been more damaging to publish his memoirs, serialised ahead of this week's Labour conference, nearer to an election.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said Mr McBride had been a "law unto himself".
Mr McBride has admitted to leaking details about the personal lives of Labour ministers seen as a threat to Gordon Brown's ambitions to replace Tony Blair as prime minister after the 2005 election.
The revelations, published in the Daily Mail, have caused anger among senior Labour figures past and present, providing a reminder of the bitter divisions during the Blair-Brown years.
In his first broadcast interview since the serialisation began, Mr McBride defended its timing, suggesting such books "always come out at conference season".
"I've always wanted to write a book, and frankly if the choice was writing it now, or writing it at a time closer to the election when it could have caused more of a damaging distraction, I wanted to write it now," he said. "I didn't expect it to have the reaction it has."
Ed Miliband: "I didn't think that was the way politics should be practiced"
"I'm sorry if it's caused a distraction from the important things that are happening inside the conference hall, but I think as Labour goes forward it will be able to set out a convincing message."
He added: "I think a lot of important lessons can be learnt from the era when I worked in government, and lots of mistakes that I amongst others made, that people need to learn from now in Labour.
"Indeed, in the reaction they've had from my book, it's clear they're learning those lessons."
The book's revelations include claims that Mr McBride:
- held a "black book" of stories about former Home Secretary Lord Reid, who resigned from the cabinet to avoid damaging newspaper allegations
- "orchestrated a briefing war" between Charles Clarke and one of Mr Blair's advisers, leading to the ex-home secretary's sacking
- leaked a damaging story to the News of the World about then Health Minister Ivan Lewis involving a female civil servant in his private office.
He suggests that Mr Brown was aware of his methods and had given his unspoken approval.
Mr McBride has also attempted to implicate Mr Miliband in the spin culture that prevailed in parts of the Labour government, suggesting he might "have problems" if email exchanges between Mr Miliband and spin doctor Derek Draper came to light.
Mr Miliband has insisted that although he knew negative briefings were going on, he did not approve of them and had urged Mr Brown to get rid of his aide.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Balls - a close ally of Mr Brown when he was chancellor and prime minister -said "many people", including himself, were unaware of what Mr McBride had been up to.
"What Damian McBride did was wrong and, to be honest, unconscionable," he told BBC News.
"I have never seen people behave in this way - personal, nasty, smeary, made-up stories. I think it is hideous and people are shocked by it."
He suggested journalists, as well as politicians, needed to "break out of the off-the-record, source-based smear culture and all of us have to say that has to change in the future".
The full interview with Damian McBride will be broadcast on BBC Two's Newsnight at 22.30 BST.
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