This is an account of how one climbs the greasy pole of politics to success and how one falls to failure and oblivion. This is a book for all Westminster-watchers and power-hungry careerists. Why out of a population of 57 million are 651 chosen to sit in Parliament? And why out of those 651 will some become ministers and a few reach the heights of the Cabinet, whilst the majority remain permanently on the back benches? What is it that attracts people to politics in the first place? And how does a family of die-hard Labour supporters produce offspring committed to the Tories? From public school to the Oxford and Cambridge Union, this book looks at traditional career routes to Westminster and asks whether political aspirants from such elite backgrounds are ideally suited to serve the interests of the people. It looks at how politics have changed over the last 30 years, and examines the irony that those who do not make it to the top serve their constituents a great deal better. It considers why some succeed - timing, single-mindedness, perseverance and luck - and the reasons for failure, ranging from political extremism, sexual delinquency and questionable business associations, to being in the wrong place or party.

Honest opportunism: The rise of the career politician

History

Riddell, Peter

Europe

Hamish Hamilton Ltd.

Honest Opportunism: Rise of the Career Politician

Orion mass market paperback

The Thatcher Government

Business & Money

Economics

Blackwell*publishers

In 1989, in The Thatcher Decade, Peter Riddell provided the most wide-ranging and accessible analysis to date of the impact of Thatcherism on the British economy and society in the 1980s. Now, following Margaret Thatcher's sudden and dramatic departure from office in November 1990, he extends his classic account of the Thatcher years to include an assessment of her legacy and its consequences for Britain in the next decade. One of the most remarkable of all British prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher presided over a period of far-reaching change in Britain's economy, industrial structure, labour market, society, and place in the world. Looking beyond the personality of Mrs Thatcher herself, Peter Riddell discusses how far these changes reflected the actions of the government, intended or unintended, rather than the influence of broader, longer-term trends common to other industrialized countries. Was there, in short, a Thatcher revolution? And what are the consequences of her legacy?.

The Thatcher Era and Its Legacy

Blackwell Pub.

Martin Robertson & Co. Ltd.

The Conservative Government, 1979-1983

Transferring a tradition: ʻAbd al-Ra'ūf al-Singkilī's rendering into Malay of the Jalālayn commentary (Monograph series)

University of California, Centers for South and Southeast Asia Studies

Aside for the secretaries of state, those lofty roles at the Home Office, MOD, Exchequer, and Foreign office, the ministers of the UK are a cast of roles that expand, and contract based on the whims and political needs of the Prime Minister. Within their portfolios those MPs and Lords are immensely powerful - able to reshape whole sectors of British society, grant or refuse government contracts and planning permission, and intervene in matters throughout the country.
And yet, few members of the British Public could name every single minister and fewer still could say the extent of each minister's responsibilities. We like to imagine that they are competent, prepared, and entirely in control, and we hold them to standards as though they are. But they are often none of those things.
These men and women serve at the pleasure of the Prime Minister. Any misstep or scandal can invite media attention, public outcry, and their swift departure. At the same time, their resignations can shatter political alliances and bring down Prime Ministers and even governments. Their positions are, therefore, both immensely powerful and precarious. In Fifteen Minutes of Power, Peter Riddell draws on interviews with former ministers, conducted on behalf of the Institute of Government, to reveal the fraught existence of these powerful men and women.

15 Minutes of Power: The Uncertain Life of British Ministers

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Profile Books

15 Minutes Of Power

Politics & Government

Profile Books, Ltd.

"Mr. Riddell does a masterly job of capturing the ins and outs of Mr Blair's remarkably close relationship with an American president who is in so many ways his complete opposite. . . . [This] immensely readable book may not be the last word on Tony Blair's war and his relationship with George Bush, but it will surely long stand as one of the best."-Ivo H. Daalder, The New York Times "Hug them close": the words used by a senior Downing Street aide to sum up Tony Blair's policy toward the United States. His political balancing act was a high-risk course of action on both the domestic and international fronts. Placing Blair and Bush in the context of Anglo-American relations throughout history, this award-winning book traces their relationship from its early tensions, through 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan and onto Blair's apparent subservience to Bush over Iraq. Using his close journalistic connections to Downing Street, Peter Riddell discovers a complex and often bizarre relationship rooted in a failed British foreign policy that will soon force Blair's government to choose between America and Europe. This updated edition includes new material on the impact on Blair's premiership of the Hutton Inquiry and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction and establish security in Iraq. Peter Riddell is the chief political commentator of the Times, a television and radio broadcaster, and best-selling author of Parliament Under Blair and Honest Opportunism: The Thatcher Government.

Hug Them Close: Blair, Clinton, Bush and the 'Special Relationship'

Politicos

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