Political memoirs are exercises in self-glorification. This makes them tedious unless well-written with colourful ‘assassinations’ that are stiletto sharp. Stewart’s book is successful. His critique of David Cameron and Boris Johnson is masterful. His pen portraits of fellow MPs doesn’t name names but are mercilessly mocking. Those mocked know who they are and so do their friends! He’s very entertaining.

Unlike most politicians he held important jobs before becoming an MP, including being a professor at Harvard University. He also had senior roles in Afghanistan and Iraq. When he was Prison Minister¹ he was inspirational. The nihilism of British prisons is astonishing. They are human warehouses. Stewart gambled his career on implementing changes to improve them by making them humane and efficient.

The 2017 Leadership contest illustrates searing self-awareness: And his naivety. We probably lost a brilliant PM when he was out-manouvred by more adept politicians. Johnson turned Britain into a corrupt Third World country. Liz Truss nearly completed his work and Sunak floundered.

Try this:

Boris Johnson

“I remembered his charm and his proclivity; his eye for the main chance; his beefy shoulders; and the irrepressible chaotic energy….if his lies took him to victory, his mendacity and misdemeanours would rip the Conservative to pieces…and pitch Britain into a virtual civil war. All with a shake of his moppy head, and a grin of small uneven teeth.”²

An anonymous MP

“…an Essex MP who had joined the Conservatives at fourteen, campaigned with a Union Jack-waistcoat wearing bulldog, and was Parliament’s most profoundly committed monarchist, and an expert on flags. His constituency association meetings were reported to begin with singing all three verses of the National Anthem – including ‘Confound their politics/ Frustrate their knavish tricks.”³

Notes

1 pp245 ff

2 p372

3 p87