I first heard about this book on The News Agents podcast, and then saw the author being interviewed by Gary Stevenson on YouTube. I’d read Gary’s book, The Trading Game, last year and have watched his videos occasionally since.
This is a non-fiction book about a working class guy from London, who became a trader for Citibank. He makes a lot of money, but becomes increasingly disgusted about the inequality in the economy, and is predicting that it’s going to get progressively worse for ordinary working people.
I listened to this on Spotify. I started before he actually became Prime Minister, but just got around to finishing it now. On election night, I stayed up most of the night, going to bed as Labour hit the 326 seats needed to become a majority and Jacob Rees-Mogg lost his seat.
This book was written in a rush and then hastily extended and edited during the disastrous Truss government. It shows in places, reading like a tabloid opinion column and lacking depth. It’s fair enough given how little time they had to write it I guess.
99% detailing all the current failings of the UK political and economic situation, 1% asking a few questions about what might be done.
A lot more hopeful than Politics on the Edge!
This is a very depressing read. Stewart clearly has a deep love of the UK and its institutions, but describes his experiences of how its politics have been completely hollowed out. All the incentives are wrong, power is not truly in the hands of either the people that claim to have it, or should have it. People are only interested in their position, and no one seems interested in the actual improvement of people’s lives. It ends with the rise of Boris Johnson and populism arriving in the UK.
A book where each chapter is a brief summary of a UK prime minister. They’re chronologically ordered from Walpole to Johnson, and each is written by a different author.