POLITICS ON THE EDGE by RORY STEWART

You don't need to be remotely interested in, or knowledgeable about, the inner workings of Britain's Conservative Party to be gripped by this “memoir from within” during the last decade or so and that revolving door of prime ministers.

But this story is so compelling in its detail, humour and observation that you will be struck very quickly by how dysfunctional, venal, ill-informed or just plain stupid many of the main players were . . . many of whom are still there.

Former MP and one-time challenger to Boris Johnson for the prime ministership Rory Stewart reveals a party which valued family connections, compliance, complicity, loyalty and an ability to pointlessly push flyers through letterboxes over eminently qualified candidates with knowledge of their constituents and with specific areas of expertise.

Rory Stewart had both qualities, but when he finally made it into Parliament was sidelined, marginalised or ignored.

The party that Stewart joined was populated by tired self-serving characters, patrician officials, buffoons (Johnson not the only one) and people who would seem better placed as minor characters in Dad's Army or an even more Machiavellian version of Yes, Minister.

Stewart acknowledges by background and belief he is a conservative: educated at Eton, student of politics and philosophy at Oxford where he tutored the princes William and Harry, brief flirtation with the Labour Party, a short period in military service.

But he brought something more than just old school values and beliefs to Conservative Party. Real world experience.

He'd joined the Foreign Office; served in Indonesia; was appointed to a position in Iraq after the invasion in 2002 where he supervised elections and worked with tribal leaders; saw the failure of that invasion first-hand; then in Afghanistan set up a humanitarian foundation and lived in Kabul for three years . . .

And much more.

If anyone could bring international knowledge to the cabinet table it was him. Oh, and he is a great walker: through Western New Guinea, 18 months through Iran, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, and every inch of his constituency on the Scottish borders before – more by chance than the express desire of party members – he became an MP in 2010.

Towards the end of his time in Parliament he makes this observation as the country stumbles towards Brexit.: “For eight and a half years the government had been an elective dictatorship run by the prime minister [David Cameron], and Parliament an elderly, smelly Labrador asleep by the fire.”

He's an academic, an author, lateral thinker, principled and a very funny and observant writer.

This about the political climate within his party and Boris Johnson as a potential PM:

“Many of the political decisions which I had witnessed were rushed, flaky and poorly considered, the lack of mature judgement was palpable, the consequences frequently catastrophic.

“And yet we had continued to win elections. 'Politics' dominated the news – but it was treated as a horse race where all that mattered was position – and to enquire after the character or beliefs of a politician was considered as absurd as to ask the same of a horse.

“But to put an egotistical chancer like Boris Johnson into the heart of a system that was already losing its dignity, restraint and seriousness was to invite catastrophe . . .

“He would be able to generate a tissue of evasions, half-truths and lies, to mobilise a right-wing voter base . . . he would polarise an already divided country. He would damage our economy and constitution; create a weeping wound in Ireland and further alienate Scotland.

“His government would be even more allergic to detail, indifferent to truth, increasingly shameless in their support for a shameless leader, and incapable of responding deftly or thoughtfully to the problems of the modern age.”

Johnson became the PM, Stewart's campaign for the position was destabilised from within by back-stabbers, those who lied to his face about supporting him, innuendo fed to Johnson-affiliated media and . . .

Rory Stewart – who paints wicked pen portraits of his former colleagues in just a few sentences and held many high offices during his time – resigned from Cabinet in 2019 when Johnson was elected PM and stood down at the next election.

He continues his charity work, taught international relations at Yale, presents television documentaries and co-hosts a podcast with the former Labour Party comms manager Alistair Campbell.

He is a remarkable man, nostalgic but pragmatic, an astute and very readable writer, a rare politician of principle (even more rare in the Conservative Party) and this book became an instant best-seller in Britain.

Easy to see why: it is often jaw-droopingly funny (John Kerry speaking uninterrupted for 20 minutes at a dinner), sometimes tragic (his time as Secretary of State in the Congo observing the tragedy of Ebola) and almost always depressing (the lies and promises made during the Brexit debate).

An extraordinary book and, we reiterate, you don't need to be remotely interested in, or knowledgeable about, the inner workings of Britain's Conservative Party.

By the end you will be. And it isn't encouraging.

POLITICS ON THE EDGE; A MEMOIR FROM WITHIN by RORY STEWART Vintage paperback $35