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How to be an MP
Best summer reads 2015 John Crace, Guardian Not for everyone the title of Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary or other such hallowed callings; the vast majority of the House of Commons is made up of backbenchers – the power behind the constitutionally elected throne. Here is a guide for anyone and everyone fascinated by the quirks and foibles of Westminster Palace, covering all species of backbencher and providing every hardworking MP and political enthusiast with the know-how to survive life in Parliament. From how to address the crowd, weather marital troubles and socialise at party conference to the all important Backbenchers' Commandments, How to Be an MP is indispensable reading for anyone wishing to make a mark from the back bench and influence proceedings in the House. And in the process it provides the outsider with a riveting insight into life as a Member. - An unique guide to being a Member of Parliament. - Essential reading for MPs and a fascinating account of life and work in the world's oldest Parliament. - Has sold 5,000 units since first publication in 2012. - Foreword by Speaker John Bercow.
The Life of an MP
‘This book is here to take you inside the daily realities of Westminster. I don’t mean that it’s going to bore you to death with a blow by blow account of what it’s like to sit on the Statutory Instrument Debate on Naval regulations 1968-2020 – but to demystify the places and practice of politics.’ From agonising decisions on foreign air strikes to making headlines about orgasms, from sitting in on history-making moments at the UN to eating McCain potato smiles at a black-tie banquet in China, the life of a politician is never dull. And it’s also never been more important. But politics is far bigger than Westminster, and in this book Jess Phillips makes the compelling case for why now, more than ever, we all need to be a part of it. With trademark humour and honesty, Jess Phillips lifts the lid on what a career in politics is really like and why it matters – to all of us. This is the inside story of what’s really going on.
An Unexpected MP
Some people enter politics because they want to make the world a better place. Then there are those with welldeserved inferiority complexes who want status, power and position. Few believe me, but I entered the House of Commons purely by accident.' High virtue in high office? Not a chance, says Jerry Hayes. No staid autobiography or dry political memoir, An Unexpected MP takes you on a raucous and salacious romp through Westminster, the media and public life. In this no-holds-barred exposé, Jerry Hayes shows exactly why people were so surprised when he became an MP - from the duty policeman who told him to bugger off when he rolled up on his first day, to the Iron Lady herself, who looked with a steely eye on his cheerful chutzpah. And, as the perfect antidote to the holier-than-thou, whiter-than-white ways of the current crop of politicos, the shameless - and shamelessly entertaining - Hayes makes a brilliant tour guide to the strange country that is Parliament, taking gleeful swipes at left and right alike. Full of tall tales of unspeakable debauchery on a tsunami of alcohol, An Unexpected MP is a thundering account of the offbeat lunacy of Westminster and Fleet Street.
How to Be a Parliamentary Researcher
To some, they are the graduates grasping the first rung on the ladder to power, to others, the unsung heroes of the British parliamentary system. But whether your notion of parliamentary researchers is more The Thick of It than The West Wing, more Yes Minister than House of Cards, there is no doubt that these individuals play an essential role in keeping the giant (and, let's be honest, slightly creaky) machine that drives British politics from juddering to a halt. Branded bag-carriers while actually performing vital duties like drafting speeches and Parliamentary Questions, handling the media and engaging with constituents online, parliamentary researchers do the dirty work behind the scene...
... and What Do You Do?
By turns irreverent and uncompromising a book that asks important questions about the future of the British royal family.
Confessions of A Recovering MP
Shortlisted for the Political Books Awards 'Best Parliamentary Memoir 2018' You are not an executive who can make and enforce decisions. You are a legislator who votes on making laws. You are not a counsellor, a housing officer, benefits clerk, bank or trading standards officer, but you are often expected to provide a new home, sort out benefits, provide a loan or settle a dispute about a computer game bought for little Jimmy that doesn't work. You are, in fact, a 21stcentury Member of Parliament representing about 125,000 good folk from your constituency by taking your seat in probably the finest parliament in the world (despite what you may read or hear in the media). You are elected by a simple majority from roughly 50,000 people who mark their 'X' by your name at a general election, hoping that you will be able to make a difference somehow. Then, when as a new MP, you walk through the Members Lobby filled with a vision of how you will leave your mark on this place and this nation, what you are almost certainly unaware of is that your constituents, your government, the press and the very institution of the Palace of Westminster have other plans for you.
Diane Abbott
More than three decades after her election to Parliament, Diane Abbott is still racking up firsts. The first black woman elected to Parliament, she also recently became the first black person to represent their party at PMQs. Based on interviews with her colleagues, her political opponents and friends from school and university, as well as extensive archival research, Diane Abbott: The Authorised Biography traces Abbott's path from London, via Cambridge University, through the media and radical politics into Parliament, and then to the top of Jeremy Corbyn's shadow Cabinet.
Diary of an MP's Wife
Sunday Times Political Book of the Year A Book of the Year in the New Statesman, Financial Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Mail on Sunday and The Times 'They're the wickedest political diaries since Alan Clark's' Daily Mail 'Riotously candid' Decca Aitkenhead, Sunday Times What is it like to be a wife of a politician in modern-day Britain? Sasha Swire finally lifts the lid. For more than twenty years she has kept a secret diary detailing the trials and tribulations of being a political plus-one, and gives us a ringside seat at the seismic political events of the last decade. A professional partner and loyal spouse, Swire has strong political opinions herself - sometimes more 'No, Minister' than ...
Women of Westminster
In 1919 Nancy Astor was elected as the Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton, becoming the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons. Her achievement was all the more remarkable given that women (and even then only some women) had only been entitled to vote for just over a year. In the past 100 years, a total of 491 women have been elected to Parliament. Yet it was not until 2016 that the total number of women ever elected surpassed the number of male MPs in a single parliament. The achievements of these political pioneers have been remarkable – Britain has now had two female Prime Ministers and women MPs have made significant strides in fighting for gender equality from the earliest suffrage campaigns to Barbara Castle's fight for equal pay to Harriet Harman's recent legislation on the gender pay gap. Yet the stories of so many women MPs have too often been overlooked in political histories. In this book, Rachel Reeves brings forgotten MPs out of the shadows and looks at the many battles fought by the Women of Westminster, from 1919 to 2019.
Welcome to Britain: Fixing Our Broken Immigration System
"A must-read" – Maya Goodfellow "Highly readable" – Joshua Rozenberg QC "Brilliant and urgently necessary" – Amelia Gentleman "Incisive and compelling" – The Secret Barrister *** How would we treat Paddington Bear if he came to the UK today? Perhaps he would be a casualty of extortionate visa application fees; perhaps he would experience a cruel term of imprisonment in a detention centre; or perhaps his entire identity would be torn apart at the hands of a hostile environment that delights in the humiliation of its victims. Britain thinks of itself as a welcoming country, but the reality is very different. This is a system in which people born in Britain are told in uncompromising te...
