BOOK REVIEW

Rory Stewart – A Modern Day Lady Whistledown?

As co-host of the popular podcast ‘The Rest is Politics’, Rory Stewart’s latest book Politics from the Edge – A Memoir from Within was as eagerly awaited as the latest publication from Lady Whistledown in the popular Netflix drama ‘Bridgerton’. (Lady Whistledown being the pseudonym of a well-placed observer of high society in Regency England who relates the comings and goings of the great and the good in a regular publication.)

Stewart’s candour when speaking on the podcast combined with the subtitle of his book (‘a memoir from within’) suggests a tantalising Whistledown-esque insider view of the ups and downs of political figures. Certainly, as a member of Her Majesty’s Government for nearly 10 years, Stewart had a front row seat, working cheek by jowl with all the key players in the tumultuous Parliamentary dramas since 2010.

Stewart’s entertaining and exceptionally readable book does not disappoint as there is much to snigger at in his witty but wicked descriptions of the characters’ appearance and apparel, although many of his targets remain anonymous: ‘His full white beard was matched by a mane of blow-dried muller-fringed white hair, as though an AI program had been asked to blend an image of a hippy and a dressy banker’.

But not all were anonymous: blue eyes squinting from beneath flamboyantly bushy eyebrows (Paddy Ashdown); fine hair, pink full cheeks, narrow eyes and blurred features (David Cameron); beautiful large ears (Jeremy Corbyn); a row of small uneven teeth (Boris Johnson).

But more importantly Stewart applies the same engaging capacity for dismantling hubris when discussing the actions of parliamentary colleagues and the dysfunctional characteristics of the parliamentary system itself, utilising colourful metaphors to describe historical events. For example, when describing David Cameron’s attempt to abolish the upper house he observes: ‘[Cameron] was proposing to whip the abolition through in a simple vote on a summer afternoon, as though he were imposing VAT on Cornish pasties’.

Similarly, his disdain for the posturing and herd-like antics of MPs is seen in his description of the response to David Cameron’s announcement of the coalition deal to Conservative MPs: ‘[there was a ] deep booming roar of MPs chanting ‘heeyarr heeyarr’ – again in comic opera bass voices like Edward VII calling across a packed banquette to a chorus girl…[banging on desks] learned through rote like plainchant in a Benedictine Monastery.’

He contrasts these experiences with his admiration for the efforts and achievements of his constituents: ‘I was much less happy in Parliament, which increasingly reminded me of a boarding school, stripped by scarlet fever of most of the responsible adults and all the nicer and kinder pupils’

One surprising revelation was how parliamentary processes and systems stymied his efforts to bring about change, noting’ …the scope of ministers often reduced, like a bound Gulliver, to a wink or a wiggle of a finger.

“I had more success with plastic bags”

At first blush it may sound as though that the book paints a hopelessly bleak picture. While it is true that Stewart pulls no punches when describing the dysfunction and pitfalls of Parliamentary life there were also many examples of his achievements but interestingly these are spoken of without the same flourish or fanfare.

I realised it had taken me a while to register these successes and wondered whether the current negativity towards Parliament and politics more generally had predisposed me to a somewhat downbeat confirmation bias where I noticed the negative aspects and subliminally disregarded the more positive outcomes.

The Personal Toll of Public Office

A strength of the book is that Stewart applies the same hard-hitting candour to himself, especially when reflecting on how he too, insidiously began to conform to the culture and how his own vanity and ambitions played out.

‘I was unsettled by how similar I was to all these people: with my own versions of snobbery obsessions, envy and anxiety about promotions, never missing PMQs’.

He also observes: ‘I began to feel that the longer I stayed in politics – the stupider and less honourable I was becoming.’

But What Can I Do?

Stewart’s book does us all a great service in highlighting the scale of the challenge. In describing how the entrenched dysfunction at the heart of our politics frustrates the work of Parliament and our politicians he implicitly challenges us all to ask ‘But what can I do?’

Or more precisely, what are we, as Christians with a biblical concern for our political life, to make of all this?

A couple of things come to mind.

First, this question is also the title of Alastair Campell’s book ‘But What Can I Do? Campbell is Stewart’s podcast co-host and his book is an excellent guide for anyone considering active political engagement. A review of Campbell’s book can be found here. It goes without saying that another excellent source of advice is Andy Flannagan’s book ‘Those Who Show Up’ which places political engagement firmly within a biblical framework.

Secondly, Stewart’s book highlights what a lonely business politics can be, how embattled politicians become and that it isn’t always clear who your friends are. Perhaps if political engagement per se is not right for you at this time, could you be a confidential, prayerful supporter to someone who is? (‘For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers’ Proverbs 11 v14).  

Finally, I recommend the prayer ‘God of all Government’ as it addresses so many of the issues that Stewart describes.

Could it be that our prayers and actions are the antidote to the dysfunction outlined in Stewart’s book?

God of all Government,

Send workers into the harvest field of political life.

Call your people. Not simply those who pay you lip service,

But those who hear your voice and know your name,

Those who will not serve two masters,

Those who will choose kingdom over tribe,

Those who are not ashamed of the gospel,

Those who will speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

Those who will seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, and plead the case of the widow,

Those who will seek to reconcile more than separate,

Those who will seek to co-operate more than compete,

Those who do not despise the day of small beginnings,

Those who pray your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Those who will choose your glory over self-promotion,

Those who will choose truth over expediency,

Those who will listen to the still, small voice more than the megaphone of the media,

Those who will care for the least of these, rather than genuflect to the greatest,

Those who find their identity and security in their divine election more than their election by man,

Those whose citizenship is in heaven, and whose primary allegiance is to another King,

Those who know your grace for their failings,

Call out an army that will march on its knees in humility,

To fight not with the weapons of this world,

But the invisible ammunition of your Kingdom. 

AMEN

Pat Finlow

@PatFinlow

www.PatFinlow.org.uk