The End of the Party - Andrew Rawnsley

Do you remember when people used to have respect for politicians? No, me neither. Probably they never have. But I do remember a time when political coverage wasn’t so obsessed with personalities; and a time when people didn’t regard politicians with quite as much hatred and suspicion as we have for them now. The New Labour governments of Blair and Brown set a new low in the way the Government interacted with its employers, i.e. us, the electorate. Their obsession with media manipulation made it seem like they were governing the country purely in response to whatever Daily Mail editorial had ... more

This is a book, so comprehensively and entertainingly revealing about recent events in UK government that I'm tempted to say I'm at a loss for words. Obviously not a state of mind that happened often to Messrs Blair, Brown et al who seem cabable of rustling up a string of expletives at the least provocation. I can thoroughly recommend this book -especially in the appended, extra chapters paper-back edition- to anyone seeking insight to the infighting and chaos that brought to an end, a once great political party. For now. Having gone through an agonising, shameful era of shallow, self-serving ... more