Politics On the Edge by Rory Stewart

When one of my sons asked me if I would like a book for Christmas, I chose this one, and I have not been disappointed. Rory Stewart has written an excellent account of life in Parliament during the period between the UK leaving the European Union (Brexit), and Boris Johnson being selected as leader of the Conservative Party, and there was no shortage of startling material to write about.

The book greatly increased my respect for Rory Stewart as he comes across as a very honest man who just wants to get things done without playing games. It would be nice to think that he was one of many MPs who operate in this way, but political moves in recent years suggest otherwise.

One of the most troubling messages that comes from his recollections is the apparent uselessness of Ministers of State. People can be chosen for these high profile positions as a reward for loyalty rather than expertise in the political area they will represent, and many talented people are often overlooked because they simply refuse to play the game. Even when a minister manages to make any useful plans for change, the likelihood is that the Prime Minister of the day will decide on a reshuffle and all the work will go to waste. Hand-over meetings almost never take place, although the new minister is expected to be an expert from the day they arrive.

Rory is quite candid in his opinions of people, especially Boris Johnson, who comes across as a bumbling baffoon whose political opinion is always taken from the last person he spoke to. David Cameron does not fare a whole lot better as he is the well-spoken figure-head with a talent for public speaking, but lacks political imagination.

It is also frightening to find how little joined up thinking there is between the government departments, and although the ministers all get together in cabinet meetings, they often only give prepared statements on their work in hand and shared projects are unusual. Many areas of public concern are deemed too difficult to tackle, and when Rory attempted to tackle the awful conditions in British prisons, all his suggestions were met with negativity and it was only his persistence that allowed change to happen.

It is a great shame that he is no longer in parliament but he is still active politically and presents a podcast 'The Rest is Politics' with Alastair Campbell which is the third most popular podcast in the UK. Maybe one day he will come back to political leadership and do great things - I hope so.

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