The author followed up this book with one about Prime Ministers we didn’t have, such as Portillo, Heseltine and Corbyn which is, In my opinion, a more interesting book - assessing the strengths and weaknesses of those who were never tested in the top job provides fertile ground for the types of political analyses at which Richards excels. This book - about Prime Ministers we did have over the last 60 years or so - is less revealing, inevitably so, as the ups and downs of their premierships will be well known to many/all of his readers. Much of the book’s strengths and readability therefore lie in whether Richards’ forensic assessments can bring anything new to the table. I would say perhaps not a great deal, but he is a great chronicler of the topsy turvy world of UK politics and the stresses and challenges faced by various governments and as such this is great read. One thing bothered me a bit - at the start of the book Richards sets out a sort of checklist of qualities a leader must have, almost as if he sees political leadership as a sort of science. In the same way he says towards the end of the second book in the series something to the effect that nothing in politics happens by chance. But both books are creaking with examples of how chance and circumstance has shaped so many routes to the top as well as decisions made by those who reach the political summit. Both books also include numerous references to the ‘political arts’ which sort of demolishes his idea of a more scientific approach. Still a great read; he makes most of the other media commentators look inept. Recommended…but the sequel is better.
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From the Publisher
Steve Richards
Steve Richards is a political columnist, journalist, and presenter. He regularly presents The Week in Westminster on BBC Radio 4 and has presented BBC radio series on Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May. He also presented the BBC TV programmes Leadership Reflections: The Modern Prime Ministers and Reflections: The Prime Ministers We Never Had.
The Prime Ministers
Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to Johnson
A landmark history of the men and women who have defined the UK's role in the modern world - and what makes them special.
Features an updated introduction and a brand new chapter on Boris Johnson.
The Prime Ministers covered in the book include...
- Harold Wilson
- Edward Heath & James Callaghan
- Margaret Thatcher
- John Major
- Tony Blair & Gordon Brown
- David Cameron
- Theresa May
- Boris Johnson
Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson is the most misunderstood of modern prime ministers. Often characterised as weak, dull and paranoid, he ruled a divided party during a nerve-shredding era and managed to win two general elections and a referendum on Europe. Unlike any prime minister since, he left Number Ten on his own terms.
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was arguably the most brilliant political teacher since Churchill. She could make complex ideas easily accessible, which explains how she became the UK’s longest serving modern prime minister. While seizing on terms like ‘freedom’, ‘choice’ and ‘power’, she oversaw a shift in society that disempowered all but the affluent.
Tony Blair
Tony Blair’s leadership is the most extraordinary and Shakespearean of recent times. Hugely popular during the early New Labour years, many saw him as a war criminal by the time he left office in 2007. Yet the true picture is far less simplistic: if Blair was a crusading aggressor, how to explain his sleepless mission to bring peace to Northern Ireland?
Theresa May
Theresa May’s energy-sapping and joyless prime ministerial career is a warning to aspiring leaders. Expect a hellish time, unless you possess the essential qualifications. May had a story to tell about Brexit, but she was not a political teacher. This was her fatal flaw – not only a failure to communicate, but an indifference to the art.
About the author
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