*THE INSTANT TOP TWO SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, UPDATED WITH A NEW CHAPTER AT PAPERBACK*
Longstanding Labour MP Chris Bryant tells the inside story of what went so wrong with Westminster - and how we might solve it.
The extraordinary turmoil we have seen in British politics in the last few years has set records. With the last government, we had the fastest turnover of ministers in our history and more MPs suspended from the House than ever. Rules were flouted repeatedly, sometimes in plain sight. The government seemed unable to escape the brush of sleaze. And just when we thought it was all going to calm down a bit, another scandal would break.
Having spent years as Chair of the Committees on Standards and Privileges, Chris Bryant had a front-row seat for the battle over standards in our politics. Taking us inside the Pugin-carpeted corridors of Westminster, from the prime minister's office to the Strangers' Bar, he examines how parliament got into this mess and suggests how it might - at last - get its house in order.
'Takes a bulldozer to the crumbling edifice of parliamentary standards' JAMES O'BRIEN * 'Absolutely riveting' REVEREND RICHARD COLES * 'Lively, forensic, engrossing' OBSERVER * 'Vital' ALASTAIR CAMPBELL * 'Blisteringly topical' TELEGRAPH * 'Rollicking' i-PAPER * 'Unputdownable' CAROL VORDERMAN
Chris Bryant has been the Member of Parliament for Rhondda since 2001. He was Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and Minister for Europe in the last Labour government, and has been Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. The author of six previous books, he has written regularly for the Guardian and the Independent, and has appeared on every major TV and radio news and current affairs programme. He was the first gay MP to celebrate his civil partnership in the Palace of Westminster.