Politics On the Edge: A Memoir From Within
Rory Stewart
A searing insider's account of ten extraordinary years in Parliament from Rory Stewart, former Cabinet minister and co-presenter of breakout hit podcast The Rest Is Politics 'An instant classic' MARINA HYDE 'At last a politician who can write' SEBASTIAN FAULKS 'Candid, angry, funny, and self-revelatory' JONATHAN DIMBLEBY 'Exceptional' RAFAEL BEHR The Times pick for *The Biggest Books of the Autumn* Over the course of a decade from 2010, Rory Stewart went from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister - before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise. Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow our democracy and government had become. Cronyism, ignorance and sheer incompetence ran rampant. Around him, individual politicians laid the foundations for the political and economic chaos of today. Stewart emerged battered but with a profound affection for his constituency of Penrith and the Border, and a deep direct insight into the era of populism and global conflict. Uncompromising, candid and darkly humorous, Politics On the Edge is his story of the challenges, absurdities and realities of political life and a remarkable portrait of our age.
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Rory Stewart: Etonite, A tory for equity, Opium smoker and apparently a professional impressionist.
This was a great way to get to know Rory more and truly understand who he is and what he stands for, despite making my way through this I cant for the life of me understand why Rory preferred to run through the Conservative party when his alignment is closer to the center-left than a lot of Labour ministers. Despite his obsession/hatred for Boris which consumed a lot of the latter half the book, he is nothing but admirable. From running a country of 100,000's of individuals, walking across the deserts of Afghanistan, too potentially being an MI6 operative; if he died tomorrow he would be remembered for living an incredible life. As a result of his upbringing, early career and personal values, it is clear Rory is of another age, locked in a another time period for a better phrase, but nonetheless his policy is fresh. Somehow a modern aristocrat, for the people.
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