From hostile briefings and spad skulduggery to extramarital sex, there’s never been any shortage of bad behaviour in Westminster. But political scandal also makes brilliant fodder for novels. Corrupt, egomaniacal characters are natural-born protagonists. The historic corridors of parliament provide a cloistered, detail-rich setting. A culture of secrecy creates inevitable tension and intrigue. None of this goes unnoticed by the leagues of politicians, aides and journalists who pass through the system, watching the sagas unfold first-hand, and then decide to write novels about it.
There are many reasons why ex-politicos turn to fiction. An attempt to hold on to the limelight. Cashing in with a potboiler. A childhood dream to write a book. A genuine interest in the novel as an art form. Boredom. Whatever the explanation, the insider-to-novelist pipeline is nothing new: Michael Dobbs published the first novel in his House of Cards trilogy in 1989 after falling out with Margaret Thatcher, for whom he was chief of staff.
On Thursday, the subgenre gained a new addition: Whips by Cleo Watson, Boris Johnson’s former aide and ally of Dominic Cummings. To mark the release, we’ve chosen the good, the bad and the average novels about Westminster dished up by insiders over the last 10 years, from the bonkbuster to the taut political thriller.
Landslide win
The Friends of Harry Perkins by Chris Mullin
This sequel to A Very British Coup by the former MP for Sunderland South is set in post-Brexit Britain. Published in 2019, parts of the novel feel clairvoyant: “Brexit Britain was a gloomy place. True, the Armageddon that some had prophesied had not occurred, but neither had the economic miracle promised by the Brexiteers. The value of the pound had fallen steadily against the euro, the dollar and the yuan.”
The book is prescient in other ways too. Labour loses election after election (“disaffection ran high in what were once Labour’s northern strongholds”), and after the death of Harry Perkins – a Corbynite, Tony Benn-like avatar – the party moves to the centre, and a Starmeresque figure ascends the ranks.
Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan
This Westminster-adjacent courtroom drama centres on a sexual misconduct case: James, an Eton- and Oxford-educated junior Home Office minister and best friend of the PM, is accused of rape by his aide, Olivia. Vaughan successfully renders the complex perspectives of the women surrounding James – including Sophie, his wife, and Kate, the QC prosecuting his case – offering an incisive take on institutional male privilege in politics and law. (The book has also been adapted into a Netflix miniseries.)
Whips by Cleo Watson
The Jilly Cooper-esque satire from the former Johnson adviser features an abundance of sex and scandal in Westminster. In her author’s note, Watson stresses that her characters are not based on real politicians. “Honestly, not everything’s about you,” she quips. This becomes hard to buy as Watson introduces characters such as the womanising Percy Cross, a former PM who resigns after a scandal and goes on to write columns for The Telegraph and “poorly researched hagiographies of his favourite historical figures.” Hmm.
Hung parliament
The House by Tom Watson and Imogen Robertson
Former deputy leader of the Labour party Tom Watson gets some points just for printing the name of his co-writer on the cover of his thriller. And the work of novelist Imogen Robertson shows: two convincingly drawn political enemies and former housemates, Owen and Philip, are at the centre of a plot that shifts nimbly between 2008 and 2022 as the pair’s past catches up with them.
The story is partly set in the Covid era and opens with Philip making a blunder in the Commons, supporting a public memorial to “celebrate” the deaths of frontline workers. He meant to say “commemorate,” of course, and apologises, but already he “can see the newspaper and social media headlines next to a picture of his own sweating face.” Shortly after, he has the urge to “strike” Owen, sending his “owlish glasses flying”. Such inner monologues pepper the book – and, however embittered and vengeful, feel satisfyingly honest.
The Whistleblower by Robert Peston
The protagonist of the ITV politics editor’s debut novel often feels like a self-portrait: Gil Peck is a ruthless reporter for the “Financial Chronicle” (read: Financial Times, where Peston worked for years), and shares the author’s north London background and Labour heritage.
Set in 1997, the Conservative government is failing as a modernising Labour leader rises. Peck is confidently covering it all until he learns that his estranged sister, an ambitious civil servant, has been killed in a bike accident. But Peck believes there’s more to the story – that mystery drives this compulsive read.
Open Arms by Vince Cable
Three months after becoming leader of the Liberal Democrats, Cable published Open Arms. Set between Westminster and Mumbai, the novel follows MP Kate Thompson as she falls for an Indian billionaire in the arms technology business while on a work trip. The premise is strong, but Cable’s “thriller” suffers from a chronic lack of suspense.
Vote of no confidence
Head of State by Andrew Marr
Enter the Brexit thriller. Published in 2014, the novel looks ahead to a 2017 EU membership referendum. The PM drops dead days before the poll, and those surrounding him decide to conceal his demise so as not to lose the vote. The novel has pluses: sardonic humour, insider detail, recognisable faces (Rory Bremner, Ian Hislop and Nick Robinson) and thinly veiled others (Fraser Nelson as “Nelson Fraser”). Yet, the storytelling is weak, and the plot becomes increasingly absurd.
The Madness of July by James Naughtie
Unlike other books on this list that redeem themselves with insidery gossip, the former Today presenter’s spy novel, set in the 70s, does the opposite. “Vagueness seeps through The Madness of July like fog, leaving the reader disoriented and decidedly unthrilled,” wrote John O’Connell in the Guardian. “We are never told whether the government is Labour or Tory, and there are no descriptions of process.”
Seventy-Two Virgins by Boris Johnson
This novel breaks the 10-year rule, as it was published in 2004, but it is too bad to leave off the list. The plot covers just a few hours in Westminster, as a group of suicide bombers target the visiting US president. Throughout the book, Johnson liberally employs racist and sexist language.
