As co-host of the popular podcast ‘The Rest is Politics’, Rory Stewart’s book was as eagerly awaited as the latest publication from gossip columnist Lady Whistledown in the Netflix drama Bridgerton.
The book’s subtitle “a memoir from within” suggests a tantalising Whistledown-esque insider view of the behaviours and quirks of politicians, and this former MP’s entertaining and exceptionally readable book does not disappoint. There is much to snigger at in his witty but wicked descriptions of characters’ appearance and apparel.
More importantly, Stewart applies his penmanship to dismantling the hubris of political colleagues and the dysfunction at the heart of the parliamentary system. But he is also disarmingly honest about how he too began conforming to the culture: “I was unsettled by how similar I was to all these people: with my own versions of snobbery obsessions, envy and anxiety about promotions, never missing PMQs”. Most poignantly, he reflects: “I began to feel that the longer I stayed in politics – the stupider and less honourable I was becoming.”
In contrast, he writes of his admiration for his Penrith constituents noting: “I was much less happy in Parliament, which increasingly reminded me of a boarding school, stripped by scarlet fever of most of the responsible adults and all the nicer and kinder pupils.”
Despite the negativity, examples of his achievements are woven throughout, but spoken of without flourish or fanfare.
Stewart identifies as a churchgoer from the ‘reticent wing’ of Anglicanism, so it is perhaps not surprising that his faith doesn’t feature in the book. Nevertheless, in describing the culture and practices at the heart of our politics, he implicitly challenges us to ask: “But what can I do?” Could it be that our prayers and actions are the antidote to the problems he describes?
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