Telling a human tale

Christopher Silvester | Issue 7 | Comment, Culture & Travel, Magazine, Uncategorised

From the Archive

From self-lacerating memoir to by-election madness and a Labour Together takedown, The Mace’s literary editor Christopher Silvester rounds up the latest political books.

Iain Dale, the journalist, publisher and LBC phone-in host, has edited a remarkable collection of essays called British By-Elections: The 88 By-election Campaigns That Shaped Our Politics (Biteback, £30). British by-elections, he explains in his preface, “often seem to take on a far greater political significance than, in retrospect, they really have.

“At the time, they can appear to break the mould of British politics, signify the seemingly terminal decline of a particular political party or signal the end of a premiership. Some by-elections take on iconic status and are remembered several decades after they take place. Others quickly disappear into the depths of our memories, rarely to be thought about ever again.”

The collection includes essays by historians, political journalists and activists of different political hues. Contributors include Peter Kellner, Sir Vernon Bogdanor, Andrew Marr, Lord Lexden, Sir Peter Riddell, Simon Heffer, David Laws, Michael Crick, Sir John Curtice, Tim Shipman, Joe Pike and Sunder Katwala. “There’s rarely a dull by-election,” says Dale. “Whether they occur because of the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, the corruption of an MP or simply the fact that the MP has had enough, there’s always a human tale to tell.” There is also an intriguing statistics section, which includes the largest swings, the lowest winning shares of the vote, …

Subscribe to The Mace

Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.

To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.