Kingmaker
Secrets, Lies, and the Truth about Five Prime Ministers
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Kingmaker
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Narrated by:
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Sir Graham Brady
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By:
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Sir Graham Brady
About this listen
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
THE BESTSELLING INSIDER STORY OF WESTMINSTER'S BLOODIEST POWER BATTLES
'Myths are debunked, prime ministers exposed and secrets revealed ... essential' The Times
'Refreshingly honest' The Telegraph
'Entertaining and approachable' The Spectator
David Cameron. Theresa May. Boris Johnson. Liz Truss. Rishi Sunak. Five prime ministers, one explosive memoir. Kingmaker lifts the lid on the leadership battles that have defined British politics
The last fourteen years have seen turbulence at the centre of politics that is perhaps unique in British history. From coalition to Brexit, Covid to Partygate, Trussonomics to this year's election, our government has never felt so fractured. And as Prime Ministers have come and gone, one man has been at the heart of every leadership challenge, seeing all, but saying nothing. Until now.
Sir Graham Brady was the Chairman of the 1922 Committee since 2010. As the leader of the group with the power to choose a new leader of the Conservative Party, it was his hand that held the executioner's axe over five consecutive Prime Ministers' heads.
Elected to Parliament in 1997 as the youngest Conservative MP in the house, Brady comes from a lower middle-class background and fell into politics age 16 when he joined a campaign to save his grammar school. This book is the story of how a boy from Salford came to be the definitive political insider.
With unique access to every key decision-maker of the past fourteen years, it offers insights into the character and choices of successive Prime Ministers and the administrations they led. Ultimately, it reveals where our most recent leadership failures originate, and asks hard questions about who will be fit to lead us tomorrow.©2024 Graham Brady (P)2024 Bonnier Books UK
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Paul C Roe
- 31-10-24
A great, listen
informative, eye opening in places as well worth a listen
only talks about the PM's and its an interesting insight into their ego's !
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- John W Thomas
- 26-02-25
Great background, well presented.
A great mini auto-biog with a wealth of the Conservative Party back story. Well read by Sir Graham, he’s quite good at the voices too!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Jiri
- 06-02-25
Fascinating insights how government work
Politics is usually a background of daily life. It touches us all but we rarely thought “how sausage is made”. This books provides front seat to drama from Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss to Sunak. Plus you will find one shocking truth how much of government is run on WhatsApp.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mr Edward G Dewhurst
- 24-11-24
Enlightening and fascinating
A very refreshing insider experience. For a first book, the author should consider further scribblings from his vast experience. A thoroughly enjoyable listen.
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- Pierre Bovington
- 20-11-24
A nice surprise
I expected a grey plodding attemot to justify the last 15 years in the life of Downing street. Fortunately it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Even handed account of the Conservative leaders, warts n all i might add.
Good job, i hope there are more in the pipeline.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Andrew Beard
- 26-10-24
A unique perspective on British Politics 2010-2024
This book presents a fascinating insight into British politics between 2010-2024 from Sir Graham Brady who for the majority of that time was chairman of the 1922 Committee, that represented Tory backbenchers. Brady comes across as a man of integrity and decency and one ultimately reflects therefore that we could have done with more like him actually within the cabinet during this period. I should have liked a bit more reflection on Johnson who is dealt with quite rapidly after some length in May and Cameron. He also races through Truss (understandable) and Sunak. The final chapter is an interesting reflection on all five PMs from the period. I listened to his book having just listened to Rory Stewart’s Politics on the Edge and I must confess I found he former more absorbing. Nevertheless Brady’s story gives an interesting perspective (not often shared) and his book is well worth a listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Paul from Cottenham
- 01-11-24
Interesting, Informative, Compelling
I have a personal policy of reading ex-PM's biography's (regardless of colour) and this book is an excellent counterpoint to what they wrote.
the book was interesting and thought provoking throughout and I am genuinely pleased that this man will continue to serve from the House of Lords.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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- Mr Lemon
- 04-11-24
Fairly good listen for fans of political memoirs
A fair amount of insight into Brady's experience as an MP.
Especially interesting to me were the sketches of meetings with PMs during difficult moments, and MPs efforts and actions to change the leadership of their party. His impressions of Boris were excellent.
At times the book sounded like a reading of bullet points of events. I think there could have been a bit more prose and detail to give a sense of the gravity of some of the bigger events, but the book got better in this respect towards the end.
Overall, if you think youd be interested in this book, I think you'd probably quite enjoy it. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to someone who doesn't read or listen to political memoirs though.
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- Linda Neave
- 09-10-24
An Excellent Book
If you are interested in British politics this is an excellent book well read by Sir Graham Brady. It is very informative about what goes on within the confines of Parliament and a real eye opener. I do hope Sir Graham writes another book in the future because if it is up to this standard I will definitely be buying it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- K.
- 05-11-24
Grahams understatement of the serious
Unlike a lot of these political books I found the pace of Grahams book added to the listeners engagement .. Having interviewed Graham at the beginning of his political career I just had that gut feeling about him and how far he would go….he has stood way above his intake and guided honestly and sensibly some who believed their own often outrageous publicity … being the ‘king maker’ with his steady and discreet manner was the Conservatives, MPs and all the PMs good fortune .. good luck for the future whatever it holds Graham.
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