The Friends of Harry Perkins

by Chris Mullin

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Genres: Fiction, Politics

Audible Audio

Published March 28, 2019

About the author

Chris Mullin is the former MP for Sunderland South, a journalist and author. His books include the first volume of his acclaimed diaries, A View From the Foothills. He also wrote the thriller, A Very British Coup, with the television version winning BAFTA and Emmy awards. He was a minister in three departments, Environment, Transport and Regions, International Development and The Foreign Office.

Reviews

[Sean Smart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, very enjoyable and topical. If you are interested in how Brexit is most likely to turn out for the UK then this gives you a very good indication.

A good but short sequel to A very British coup.

[Kenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

When a novel opens with a preface that notes that the book to which it is a sequel has suddenly started selling well again of late, and then goes on to ask for ‘forbearance’ for elements of the current novel that don’t make sense, it’s hard not to be a little alarmed.

I like Chris Mullin, his diaries, and his writing generally. But this very thin volume - literally and metaphorically - is predictable and unsubtle. It layers stereotype onto cliche. I finished this in a few hours but not because I devoured it; rather, there was nothin there to read.

[Paul Snelling · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost unbelievably flimsy novella sequel to an excellent book. The bumf says ‘a tantalising human drama’. It reads like a plan of that bigger book, which could actually contain characters. It’s like Chris Mullin (who I admire, generally) thought of the plot but didn’t get round to writing it.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

good idea for the follow up book for a very british coup but sadly the book doesn't totally deliver

[Julie Bozza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm realising that my formerly innate optimism has suffered a serious amount of damage in recent years... I spent the first 90% of this novella enjoying the story of a post-Brexit backlash and a resurgence of Labour - and desperately wishing it was even a little bit realistic. It felt like a fantasy. Until the horrible (but long foreshadowed) conclusion... I'm not sure if the end made the experience better or worse. {sigh}

[Martyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a genuine disappointment. I liked 'A Very British Coup' after waiting years to read it and I think that Chris Mullin's diaries are among the best political diaries ever produced. This reads, as another reviewer has said, like the flimsiest outline of a much larger story, not even the first draft but an exercise in setting out a potential plot.

In the introduction Mullin apologizes for the very obviously wacky time scale in the novel, in relation to the first book, and asks the reader to suspend their disbelief. The problem is not though that some characters appear much older than they should be or that after only 10 years since the first novel some of the action is not really that believable. The problem with the time scale is that Mullin has to spend about 120 pages of a 180 page novella forcing the central character into various situations just so that he can gain the necessary experience and gravitas for later developments. I have no idea why the author couldn't have started the book with Thompson as an already seasoned politician, it would have allowed Mullin to concentrate on plot instead of plot filler. I also have no idea why he needed to crowbar in so many of the characters from the first novel, none of them had the slightest effect on the plot and could have all been replaced with newer characters - this would also have helped both the framing and the atmosphere of the book, although not the title!

Aside from structural problems the book is not well written. It's frankly cliché ridden from the start, very repetitive and, amazingly for Scribner, error strewn. I don't know whether Mullin has heard of the concept of accurate heteroglossia but I'm not sure that adding "so I do" to the end of sentences spoken by working class people and "good chap" to those spoken by the upper class is really cutting the mustard. It reads like something written in the 1950's. The language used in the book struck my ear as extremely patronizing, children are 'golden nuggets' and 'little people' and Joan Cook (ex-Home Secretary) was 'Mrs. Cook' throughout, even though she's supposedly part of the gang. Other characters had their full names mentioned every time they spoke, regardless of how many times we had been introduced to them. It made no sense whatsoever and made the novel read like an Enid Blyton book, '5 Go Mad in Westminster' perhaps.

This book has two scenes that should be dramatic, pathos-filled events, and to be honest they are for the page and half or so that it takes to describe them. Unfortunately the rest is so bathetic that the effect is lost. There's probably a good book somewhere in this outline, it's about 300 pages longer and pays closer attention to the dramatic arc of the story and to the emotional and temporal development of the characters. Also it doesn't have any golden nuggets.

[Brompton Sawdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Friends of Harry Perkins is the follow up novel to A Very British Coup. It’s taken almost forty years for Chris Mullins to write it but was it worth the wait?

For those who don’t know, A Very British Coup starts with Harry Perkins, an old school socialist, winning power at a general election. With a distinctly left wing agenda, the civil service, MI5 and the Americans try to stop the labour government carrying out the policies it was elected for. It’s well worth a read although not totally essential for reading this sequel. It was a powerful book at the time, and even spawned a three part TV mini series, which has a different ending from the book.

So this books starts with the death of Harry Perkins. Fred Thompson, his former press secretary and advisor is persuaded to stand for Harry’s old seat in Sheffield. Having spent the time on a remote Scottish isle, it’s a change for Fred and his family.

The book is totally different from the first. It produces different emotions. In the first I was angry at the way the establishment tried and succeeded to subvert the voters. Past history has proved the book to be fairly accurate at what would happen if a labour government was elected with a radical agenda. This book however is a lot more on a human level. It deals not just with politics, but the lives of those in it.

I have to say it’s heartbreaking at times. I didn’t expect a book based on politics to bring me to tears, not just once but twice. It’s set in a world where Brexit has happened and the results aren’t good. The characters are all too real and the ending is totally realistic. The book is dedicated to the memory of Jo Cox, an MP killed by a right wing Brexiteer.

I highly recommend this book. It shows the personal sacrifices that people make. I want to reread it straight away but am worried that doing so will lessen the impact it has made on me. Thanks Chris Mullin for a great read and playing with my emotions.

[Bill Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Chris Mullin's writing. I thoroughly enjoyed his diaries and biography. I liked some of his fiction including A Very British Coup. I even like this. But it is really thin. A quick and easy read and vaguely entertaining, but it reads like a sketch for a novel rather than the final publication. Largely predictable, few surprises, little drama, in a story that should be full of it. It doesn't really get to grips with any of the issues and despite the fact the Mullin has been there, it doesn't even feel authentic. And yet I enjoyed reading it. I suppose it was a quick read.

[Robert Pocock · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very poor book. Short with no development of plot or character; unsubtle and full of cliches. As an admirer of Mr. Mullins' diaries this is disappointing stuff. It feels as if it was thrown together over a long weekend to meet a deadline.

[Niamh · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.75 Star Rating)

This is a weird one.

I haven’t read the original ‘ very British coup’ so most likely my opinion is going to be a bit pointless and limited in light of that. There were clearly a lot of call backs to the first book that I didn’t understand and I’m sure were nice references for fans of the original book, but it didn’t really hamper understanding of the plot or the characters motivations significantly.

I also haven’t read much of this genre and its one that I really want to get into and think I would enjoy. So I’m slightly bias in being predisposed to want to like this book.

Nonetheless, the book started well and I was interested to see where it was going to lead. I did NOT expect it to end SO suddenly and with such a random ending. Admittedly, my own fault for not realising that (apparently?) this book is a novella, rather than a novel. But it just felt like it ended slap bang in the middle of the story and was a really weird & emotionless way to kill off the main character who were just starting to really connect and understand more about.

I also just didn’t feel like the ending was realistic - like ofc presidents and prime ministers can be killed, but like the historical evidence provides proof that it is uncommon. I got that the book was trying to highlight the dangers of the far right, a motivation with which I am in absolute agreement with, it just felt like it could have been handled and developed SO much better. We could have really dived into the threat they represent and highlight there increased emboldened actions after Brexit. But this felt rushed & like it was done for a dramatic, and dare I say convenient, way to end a book that didn’t seem like it had a plan for anywhere else to go.

The book in general had a brief & rushed style, which I largely didn’t mind until the general election scenes & the ending, as I thought it had a kind of ‘ clipped, political, things- change- quickly-around-here’ style that was in theme with a political book. But having seen the bits where that clipped style didn’t work at all, it makes me think in hindsight this was perhaps not a literary style / tone choice and more likely just bad & undeveloped writing.

The two short stories :

1) I mean it was fine. Kinda random but fine. Naturally I don’t mind / find reading about the Catholic
Church quite interesting, but I’m still at a bit of a loss as to the actual point pf the story, what country it was set in & what message he was trying to send?

If like the second book, this is merely speculative fiction into the politics of other countries, assuming this is based on a South American country, then fair enough but it just felt a bit random.

2) I liked this less for some reason. Bizarrely, and I don’t know where this has come from, but I felt it was actually a little bit disrespectful? Idk. I also didn’t get the bit right at the end with the transcript - I assume it’s highlighting that it was the CIA that killed JFK, but I didn’t fully understand & so annoyingly ( at myself) feel like I missed out on a big twist / reveal.

[Andy Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book straight after reading A Very British Coup to which this book is the sequel. I have to say that I preferred Mullin’s first book over this one. That’s not to say that I found The Friends of Harry Perkins less readable than is predecessor, it’s just that the central character in the first book, Harry Perkins, was much mor engaging and likeable than Fred Thompson is in this book.

In this novel, Mullin describes a post-Brexit political landscape which is arguably still more consumed with Brexit than it ever was (sound familiar?). The book centres on Harry Perkins’s former aide, Thompson, as he starts his climb up the greasy pole of politics. Like with the first book, shadowy forces are at work behind the scenes but, unlike in Harry Perkins’s time, those forces seem to be much more benign and favourable to Labour.

Mullin writes in an engaging way and pulls in imagined political events that, given the way the world is going, might not be that far from the truth. Another solid read from Mullin and well worth picking up.

[Paul Gormley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simplistic and dull. Set in a future where Corbyn was never leader of the Labour Party and the tories never torn apart by the referendum. Labour has been in opposition over the course of 5 elections and the party's latest tactic is to fast track a previous political strategist into the leadership.

In this version of political reality, to win an election requires the support of aristocratic tories, MI5 and the death of Murdoch. The politics in this novel are poor - pro-EU but anti-immigration is the main focus of the political discourse. In the background, a crisis between the US and China and a personal tragedy pad out a thin and insubstantial story.

For political insight, turn to House of Cards. This book however is one to avoid.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining. Plausible, scarily so. Let down by length meaning that actions of several characters - one in particular -aren't delved into.

If your heart doesn't break, even a little bit, half way through you must be made of sterner stuff than I

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read Chris Mullin’s famous first novel, A Very British Coup, about Harry Perkins, a left-wing firebrand in the late 1980’s, who becomes Prime Minister only to be deposed by the establishment, after watching the brilliant Channel 4 adaptation starring Ray McNally. Getting hold of the original novel the series was based on, I was surprised by its brevity, more a novella than a novel. Reading the book, I was also thoroughly disappointed, for unlike the series the novel suffered from clunky dialogue, paper thin characters, and just didn’t do the story justice.

The Friends of Harry Perkins is Mullin’s sequel to A Very British Coup, something people have asked for years whether he was going to write and which he had no real intention of doing. With Brexit he changed his mind and well here we are. Like the first novel, this is a very short book, just 192 pages. Set a few years after Brexit, the story tells of Fred Thomson, Perkins’ former aide, re-entering politics. Winning Harry Perkins old seat for Labour, Thomson rises the greasy pole and has to contend with the far right, the ongoing damage caused by Brexit, the Tories, all the while with a war brewing between the United States and China. All within what is really a novella rather than a novel.

Unlike A Very British Coup, I found The Friends of Harry Perkins to be very well written. On the whole the dialogue was convincing rather than clunky (though there were occasions of exposition) and the characters while not as developed as they might, were convincing. The Thomson family suffers a very personal tragedy during the narrative, and this was portrayed very powerfully, I don’t mind admitting that this section had me shed a tear. Similarly, the parliamentary machinations are handled adeptly, not surprising seeing as the author was himself a parliamentarian for many years.

That all said, this novel suffers from two related problems. The first is one that afflicted A Very British Coup - the brevity. It’s been a few years since I read that title, but the concept was relatively simple: a left-wing firebrand become Prime Minister, only to be deposed by the establishment. But despite its simplicity, the shortness of the novel just couldn’t do it justice, there just wasn’t the space for the narrative to breath. The plot of The Friends of Harry Perkins is more convoluted and nebulous, and thus the brevity of the narrative is even less satisfactory.

The second problem is that while A Very British Coup dealt with a historical issue, The Friends of Harry Perkins is much more current. A Very British Coup was apparently inspired by the idea of what would happen if Tony Benn became Prime Minister, something which was never going to happen (unlike now when Corbyn became leader of the party). The idea of MI5 and the establishment undermining a Prime Minister harked back to conspiracy theories which suggest they did just that to Harold Wilson. But the fact is it was never likely to happen at the time was and pure speculation. Now Corbyn might become Prime Minister, the novel has gained renewed currency.

The Friends of Harry Perkins however deals with Brexit and by necessity the narrative has to make predictions as to what might happen. But with Brexit-related events changing by the minute the risk is that the narrative will be taken over and made redundant by events rather than be seen as prescient. Again, the brevity of the text makes this danger greater for if the author had taken the time to flesh out his scenario, he might have made a convincing alternate universe that even if overtaken by events would give an insight into how things might have been. Unfortunately, he just gives us a skeleton of a scenario, the bare ones of one, and thus it is easily forgettable.

All in all, The Friends of Harry Perkins is perversely better written than A Very British Coup but much less compelling as a story. That said, it will sell well on the basis of the author’s reputation and the success of the original. But I have a prediction: Just as A Very British Coup was snapped up for television and the television show was much better than the original source material, I imagine it won’t be long before history repeats itself and the same occurs for The Friends of Harry Perkins.

[Alyssia Cooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed The Friends of Harry Perkins more than its predecessor, A Very British Coup, for the large part. But it's a pity that it suffers from many of the same flaws of the first book and with several more added in. It certainly suffers from the same stylistic issues, often falling into the trap of becoming vignette pieces rather than a fully formed novel. And much like before, the vast majority of the characters are cardboard cut-outs, with the only really fully fleshed out character being Fred Thompson.

It also suffers from its short length; this is like the basis of an idea for a novel rather than an actual novel. A Very British Coup was relatively short, and this is about half the length. It's more novella than novel in honesty. And whilst I understand that Mullin begged his reader's indulgence for continuity issues, I struggled to see past them at times. A Very British Coup stayed well clear of real names for instance, with historical political figures re-worked and re-named. The Friends of Harry Perkins smashes into reality with references to Thatcher, Trump and many other notable true life political figures. It was a huge style change and it ruined the immersion for me, particularly considering many of the previous fictional characters returned so it was clearly meant to be in the same 'alternate universe'.

I struggled with the timelines as well; Mullin admits that many of his characters should be a decade or two older than they are and it begs the question of why? Why not do things properly; have Thompson as an older and already seasoned politician at the very start of the novel for instance. He could have skipped 20 or so pages of filler forcing him into the role and created a far more robust setting for the narrative. Instead of falling back on previous bit-player characters, create new younger characters to populate the pages... and actually flesh them out in the process. And clear up the confusion of the political timeline; Perkins was in office during the Thatcher era and was replaced by a limpet Labour leader... so why is Thatcher's reign so prominently mentioned? It made no sense to me.

I have to say though, that whilst I've perhaps been generous with my three stars considering the issues with length, characterisations, continuity and time line that I felt detracted from the novel, I still enjoyed it. And that's the real reason for my three stars. Could it have been better? Oh, definitely. And I think with polish and a more robust plot, this could easily have been four or even five stars. But it was still a witty and biting look on the potential ramifications politically, economically and socially. The side plot about the war brewing between China and America was also quite fascinating; it's just a pity it was told in brief single paragraphs at the end of each chapter.

So, three stars. It probably should be two. But I'm sticking with my gut on this one, particularly as the family plot running through the novel honestly made me tear up. I do think though that this needed a lot more work before publication in honesty. Mullin is a good writer, but he doesn't show case that anywhere near as well as I think he could here. This is a bare bones skeleton of a novel that is trying to do too much for the novella length. There are at least three plots going on here for instance; Brexit, China-American relations and a family tragedy, but the short length means none of them are covered fully. I really didn't like the continuity issues; if you are going to create an alternate political landscape, not using real people then you really need to stick with that. And it felt somewhat unfinished with a shock conclusion that forces the story to a halt rather than tying all the loose strands neatly.

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Friends of Harry Perkins is the follow up novel to A Very British Coup. It’s taken almost forty years for Chris Mullins to write it but was it worth the wait?

For those who don’t know, A Very British Coup starts with Harry Perkins, an old school socialist, winning power at a general election. With a distinctly left wing agenda, the civil service, MI5 and the Americans try to stop the labour government carrying out the policies it was elected for. It’s well worth a read although not totally essential for reading this sequel. It was a powerful book at the time, and even spawned a three part TV mini series, which has a different ending from the book.

So this books starts with the death of Harry Perkins. Fred Thompson, his former press secretary and advisor is persuaded to stand for Harry’s old seat in Sheffield. Having spent the time on a remote Scottish isle, it’s a change for Fred and his family.

The book is totally different from the first. It produces different emotions. In the first I was angry at the way the establishment tried and succeeded to subvert the voters. Past history has proved the book to be fairly accurate at what would happen if a labour government was elected with a radical agenda. This book however is a lot more on a human level. It deals not just with politics, but the lives of those in it.

I have to say it’s heartbreaking at times. I didn’t expect a book based on politics to bring me to tears, not just once but twice. It’s set in a world where Brexit has happened and the results aren’t good. The characters are all too real and the ending is totally realistic. The book is dedicated to the memory of Jo Cox, an MP killed by a right wing Brexiteer.

I highly recommend this book. It shows the personal sacrifices that people make. I want to reread it straight away but am worried that doing so will lessen the impact it has made on me. Thanks Chris Mullin for a great read and playing with my emotions.

[Mehmet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book for me perfectly shows the gloom that Brexit has covered the country in. Its like when you watch old 70s british comedies, they could never totally hide all the problems, yet they attempted to laugh at ourselves and made everyone laugh at the same time. There was a self critical aspect to the jokes that we currently have lost. We are suppose to have moved on. The disparity in attitudes of comedies was even evident when you compared Carry ons to the Confession series, The rather short Adventure series. The gloom and self referential humour slowly dispersed. We in 2020 have seemed to returned to the doom and gloom with out the naughty chuckle but with the sexist, racist and added violent attitude.
All my personal opinions aside Chris Mullin has sort of attempted to show us one rather realistic portrayal of what may happen, without committing himself as deeply as the first book. Its not as deep as could be, but it still packs a punch. Weirdly in this book the hidden establishment helps the outsiders (labour party) as opposed to fighting them in the Very British coup. The feeling of Pandora box been open to encourage all the nasty elements of our society seems to be at least one theme that brexit has allowed. Just look at the murder of Joe Cox the labour MP before the referendum. She was a remainer and killed, how often do you hear of such things in British politics.
Chris Mullin has written a thought provoking sequel but I believe if was a bit more risky and kind of followed the time line from the first book he could of made a much greater story. Still its 4 stars and much recommended.

[Nicolas Chinardet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is post-Brexit Britain, between five and ten years after the event, and things are not going well.

A belated sequel to A Very British Coup, The Friends of Harry Perkins follows a similar recipe to its predecessor. Set in the near future, the book incorporates historical elements and fiction. And like in his earlier effort, Mullin tells more than it shows, which makes for a fast-paced and gripping rhythm but also takes away some of the depth. It also means that the volume is much too short.

Despite the numerous missing articles (?!) and the mawkish repetition of the phrase "little person" instead of "child", the writing is very pleasant.

I'm not sure there was much of a need for the melodrama of Thompson's daughter's illness but I suppose the absence of this storyline would have made the book even shorter than it already is.

I would question Mullin's timeline in some of the circumstances he describes: I think a lot of those would have develop much earlier after the UK has left the EU.

The ending is fairly predictable, but, like the first book, this is a really entertaining little book.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having really enjoyed re-reading A Very British Coup, I rushed straight on to this sequel.
The author explains that to make his plot work he needs the reader to allow a concession about the timeline because the dates don't stack up. In order to focus the novel on a character from A Very British Coup we've to believe that less time has passed getting us to ten years after Brexit. And I don't really think that will do. With a gaping hole like that I'm amazed the book was ever published. But presumably the opportunity to cash in on the politics of the day was too good to miss.
The plot starts at the funeral of former British Prime Minister, Harry Perkins. The Labour Party is duly re-invigorated by Harry's former aide, Fred Thompson who takes over Harry's Sheffield constituency. I won't give the plot away but I found it contrived and implausible. There's some good characterisation and you can spend a while trying to guess who Mullin has based his characters on. But that doesn't make up for the plot failings. Very disappointing!

[She Is Up All Night · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely hate giving negative reviews - I just want to start off saying this.

The reason it only gets two stars for me is when I finished it, I felt like half the book was missing. The points about Brexit and how it reflects our (unfortunate) political climate in the UK were highlights, but I wish the book would have gone into more depth about them. I feel like a lot of the characters, we could’ve learned more about them so they weren’t just mentioned in passing, but that’s me, I like details.

I very much enjoyed the fact that this book felt like it was predicting the future, but the ending was very sudden, even if it does seem realistic. I wasn’t sure if it was a metaphor for, basically, ‘don’t get your hopes up because they will get crushed again’.

It’s a shame to give this book two stars as when it did go into depth, those parts were really good but it wasn’t often enough and lacked overall.

[Jimmy Van Pfauen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed A Very British Coup which I ready shortly beforehand. In this one I really had the feeling of being dragged into a panorama of alternate history politics. Sadly, none of this is left in the sequel which seemed so promising. Using a similar premise but make it about the toxic Brexit debate? Count me in!

Mullin starts very promising as he establishes the new heroes and villains and soon it seems clear where Fred Thompson, the former aide of Harry Perkins, is headed. It's well written how he gets into power, this at the cost of personal loss.

But then: The end. It comes very suddenly albeit not without some thrill. But that was it? The book seemed to end before it actually started. Why all this exposition? To what, well, end?

With this, Mullin doesn't make enough of the theme. The Brexit debate is in some way even a bit of a cartoon with all the cliches we already know.

I'd rate the predecessor 4 out of 5 but this one is simply not good.

[Jota Houses · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despues de A Very British Coup me quedó buen sabor de boca y me quise releer esta tardía secuela.
No tiene ni la entidad ni la agudeza de su predecesora. Se deja leer pero poco más. No profundiza en las consecuencias del Brexit salvo para decir que fueron malas y UK se ha convertido en un pais de tercera. Las pinceladas sobre la confrontación Sinoamericana se diluyen y no llevan a nada.
La trayectoria de Fred Thompson como nueva promesa del laborismo resulta artificial y no permite construir una buena historia.

[Robert Ronsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book and A Very British Coup together as a present. The things I liked about the first book were amplified in this – the credibility of the political scene and the pace. The same can be said of the faults – lack of character development and superficiality. This one rushed through the story so quickly it read like a treatment for a screenplay.
One thing this book had that its predecessor lacked was real tragedy. Although gut wrenching to read it did give the book an element that was missing from the first.

[Heidy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. When I started reading the book I was completely on the wrong track, somehow expecting an allegory on Starmer which, of course, it wasn't, being published in 2019. Gradually, it seeped through to me that it was very much to do with Brexit, the Labour Party and Brexit, actually, and a Brexit stance completely inconceivable in the Labour leadership nowadays in 2023, but then the book is set in 2025, I believe. - The book is nothing like "A Very British Coup" but still worth a read - and it's not very long, so it can easily be fitted in.

[Malcolm Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is more of an outline for the book it was meant to be than the best possible read the author Chris Mullins could make of the material in it. It is almost a work of YA, young adult, fiction in it's simplified language and presentation of ideas. It works well as a YA guide to politics, the 'but' coming in how the book is packaged as if for adults. works. But that is not how it is packaged, that is me being rational about the way the book comes across. Though any adult with readers block would find the book a good book to break the sense of being unable to read what they have tried to read for fun in recent times.

The political plots in the book have a certain unintended resonance with recent Tory and Labour government, as of Autumn 2024 the UK had a general election in the July and England voted Labour after over a decade of Tory government. For between one and two years before the election the Labour opposition were setting the future political agenda whilst the Tories were sliding about and falling down on all their own old political banana skins. Labour were 'clearing out the trash' from the last Tory government-all the political kites the Tories flew that they knew would stay up for long to capture the headlines in the press that support them but not long enough to be recognised as mature policy decisions.

Perhaps the best way to view this book is that if a reader is new to the writings of Chris Mullin it is a good light starter to enjoy before reading 'A Very British Coup', the predecessor to this book which gets much better ratings. I have yet to read 'A Very British Coup' but I have ordered it from my local library since it is one of many thousands of books that they have in store and on the shelves of their small town libraries across Northern Ireland.

[archie wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think the premise of the plot is great. but it's a shame that it is so short. if at the same length of A Very British Coup, then there would have been time to flesh out the stories and characters. there was also a lot of inconsistencies with times. so many times there are confusing statements of how long ago this or that happened that just don't make logical sense or contradict one another. still, it is a pointent commentary on post-brexit britain that i still think is with a read

[Nicky Rossiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have British right wing leanings do not read this book. Mullins takes potshots at many of the Tory introductions of recent years but does it with a natural flair for writing.
It turns a bit melodramatic at times but he carries it off well.
If you read A Very British Coup or viewed the excellent series Secret State based on it you will know what to expect.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was disappointed that it is rather short.

[Patrick Notchtree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Mullin knows how the British political system works, a former MP and government minister should. He uses his knowledge to the full in this worthy successor to "A Very British Coup". It picks up the story some years later when Brexit has started to bite. What is chilling is that it is all so possible and therefore its authenticity is scary.
Well written of course, and yet an easy read that maintains the pace to the startling end.

[Ian Thewlis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short fast read and clearly written in a hurry with lots of white space and some proofreading errors. Praise from Alistair Campbell and Stephen Frears on the cover but you wonder if they read it. A political insider's book with occasional high points but Chris Mullin should have stuck to writing his entertaining diaries.

[Becky Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliantly written book about British politics. Chris’s insight into the world gives an accurate portrayal of the machinations behind the doors of the Houses of Parliament. At points heartbreaking this is a quick read and should be on the book list of anyone with even a vague interest in how the country is run.