Kathryn Rose

Rory Stewart "Politics On The Edge" (Vintage)





Anyone who has ever met me, knows that I am about as far from being a Conservative as it is possible to be: that's one thing that I seem to have in common with Rory Stewart.

I started this book quite liking Mr Stewart; by the time that I was thirty pages in, I wanted to say some exceedingly rude things to him then, by the time I got to the last page, I felt sorry for him.

The reason for my initial ire was the immense air of righteous deservedness about his ascension to Parliament and his expectation to enter the cabinet: didn't these people know who his people were? It eventually dawned upon me that the Houses of Parliament are filled with two types of people. There are the sons (and it is still mainly males in the top echelons) of Colonels or the Duke of... who expect the old boys (see previous parentheses) network to lead to instant installation at the top of government, and the ordinary Joe (and now Jane) Bloggs who are overawed by the stench of privilege: how does one react when the peg for your coat has a hanger for a sword next to it? (Remember, the vast majority of the House is not nearly as old as it pretends.)

Stewart, by his own admission, enters into politics with no knowledge of the game, just a feeling that he ought to give something back and he, of course, knows what the proles need! Stewart illuminates a stage filled with like minded players. He confirms the belief that most politicians have an incredibly light grasp of any concept of truth - always tell people what they want to hear and then, do what you want.

By the end of the book, I realised that Stewart was one of the good guys (for a Tory!); he can't help his education any more than anyone else, and I think that he really wanted to make things better. The second thing that I realised was that the arrival of Boris Johnson, a poor man's Donald Trump, was inevitable in a system that encourages bravado and testosterone filled antics. I am more certain than ever, that we need a new political system, one in which Jeremy Corbyn is in.