LONDON — There wasn’t a great deal of time for reading in Westminster this year.
Labour’s election supermajority, dramas over freebies and staff, war everywhere, a tax-hiking budget, and a heap of missions, milestones, foundations, pillars and steps kept Britain’s politicians on their toes.
But, thankfully, some of Westminster’s finest still managed to steal a few hours off to bury their heads in a good book.
POLITICO sent out the call to senior politicians, MP-slash-writers and political authors for the best book they read this year — old or new, fiction or non. Bored of your family? Disappointed with your stocking? Stock up your reading list here and see in 2025 curled up with a good book.
Bridget Phillipson, education secretary: The Country Girls trilogy, a story of women’s sexual awakening by Irish writer Edna O’Brien, who died this summer. “Beautifully written, she was a true pioneer.”
David Lammy, foreign secretary: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, a tale of four friends making their way in New York amid money worries, addiction and trauma. “Devastating portrait of friendship, love and shame.”
Pat McFadden, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Truman by David McCullough, a biography of Harry Truman. “It’s an amazing story and a fantastic book. He was underestimated and has not been given the recognition he deserves.”
Tony Blair, former prime minister: Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America by T.J. Stiles, a biography of American Civil War cavalry commander George Armstrong Custer. “I thought this was far too niche a subject to interest me, but it’s a fascinating book on many different levels and beautifully written.”
Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader: Undertones of War, poet Edmund Blunden’s 1928 memoir. “I am a student of the Great War. Blunden’s beautiful use of the English language to describe such horror is fascinating.”
John Major, former prime minister: The Restless Republic by Anna Keay, about Britain’s 11 years without a monarch. “History as it should be told.”
Rishi Sunak, former prime minister: “The most thought-provoking book I read this year is Eric Schmidt, Henry Kissinger and Craig Mundie’s Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit, a superb guide to how artificial intelligence will change our world. The most moving novel I have read is Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It is a wonderful exploration of the meaning of friendship.”
Ian Dunt, writer on SW1’s broken politics: Also Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, the story of two video game designers and their relationship over many years. “A novel about the most underrated of all relationships — the one you have with your work colleagues.”
Kim Leadbeater, MP and assisted dying legislator: How Westminster Works … and Why It Doesn’t by Ian Dunt. “A thought-provoking analysis of [the] current political system which gives everyone, inside and outside politics, plenty to think about in terms of revitalizing our democratic system and giving hope for the future.”
Wes Streeting, health secretary: Looked After, Ashley John-Baptiste’s childhood memoir of growing up in foster care. “Radicalizing, infuriating and inspiring in equal measure.”
Jo Stevens, Wales secretary: Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson, a story of Soho nightlife in the 1920s. “She is a bloody genius writer — I’ve never read anything by her that’s been less than brilliant. The layers of storyline are deep and the female characters are fabulous.”
David Cameron, former prime minister: JFK: Volume 1: 1917-1956 by Fredrik Logevall. “Although we have all read countless bios of this extraordinary man and know what ultimately happens, this biography is exceptional in its incredible detail, especially about Kennedy’s early life, his family upbringing and influences. The book ends at the Democratic National Convention in 1956 with Kennedy contemplating his future career. What happens next is yet to come in Volume 2!”
Emily Thornberry, chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee: “Since July I have been obsessively listening to cozy crime stories on Audible; probably heard about 50 of them. I have just finished Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton read by Penelope Keith and am starting Murder under the Mistletoe by Richard Coles. They are strangely soothing.”
Alex Burghart, historian and shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Four Shots in the Night: A True Story of Stakeknife, Murder and Justice in Northern Ireland by Henry Hemming. “Remarkable insight into the Troubles’ labyrinthine complexities.”
Graham Brady, tell-all former 1922 Committee chair: An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris. “A gripping dramatisation of the Dreyfus scandal, a tale of antisemitism and bureaucratic cover-up.”
Diane Abbott, mother of the House and memoirist: Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America by Maggie Haberman. “They have a personal, if mutually suspicious relationship. She also illustrates how self-centered, greedy and bullying Trump the national figure is, and his continuing dishonesty on a countrywide scale.”
Suella Braverman, Tory MP: Israelophobia by Jake Wallis Simons. “Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand antisemitism: what it is, where it came from and, crucially, what we can all do to tackle it.”
Stephen Flynn, SNP Westminster leader: Inside the IndyRef by fellow SNP MP Pete Wishart. “I’ve not actually received a signed copy yet (hint) but the author assures me that in his unbiased opinion it is utterly unmissable.”
Ed Davey, Lib Dem leader: Golden Hill by Francis Spufford, an entertaining ramble through 18th century Manhattan. “I mostly avoid political books and my best friend bought me this and it’s a real historical barnstormer. Proper escapism and wonderfully written.”
Isabel Hardman, Spectator journalist and author: Julia by Sandra Newman. “I didn’t have very high expectations of this retelling of 1984 but it was proper stay-up-late-to-read-more stuff.”
Patrick Maguire, Times journalist and Starmer kremlinologer: Killing for Company: The case of Dennis Nilsen by Brian Masters. “Writing a book on Labour’s revival and rocky entry into government meant I did less reading than I would have liked, but I managed to make time for this surprisingly tender psychological study of the serial killer, which I read in one sitting one night I couldn’t sleep. Please don’t lock me up.”
James Cleverly, Conservative MP: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, a sci-fi novel about a teacher-turned-astronaut who wakes up with amnesia 12 light-years from earth. “I love [it]. It’s by the author of The Martian.”
Grant Hill-Cawthorne, House of Commons librarian: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. “As well as painting an incredibly moving picture of a key time in Russian history, the development of its main character alongside those of his fellow residents in the Metropol Hotel is beautifully described, with strong themes of what it is to be a parent, a citizen, a friend and a companion.”
Cleo Watson, author of Whips, a satirical romp: Kingmaker by Sonia Purnell, the story of Pamela Churchill Harriman who helped rescue the U.S. Democrats after their 1980s wipeout. “Harriman’s life from [Winston] Churchill’s daughter-in-law to [Bill] Clinton’s ambassador to France is full of highs and lows, as she constantly reinvents herself with the one thing people underestimate and can’t teach — emotional intelligence and knockout sexual charisma.”
Sonia Purnell, biographer of Boris Johnson (and Pamela Harriman): Screams! by Ysenda Maxtone Graham. “In a year of very bad big things across the globe, it was curiously comforting to read about tiny personal inconveniences — from podcasters’ chummy but not very funny banter to non-functioning PVC windows to the uselessness of a folding umbrella.”
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Cabinet Office minister and biographer: Turning Points by Steve Richards, looking at the great moments of change in British politics since 1945. “I’m privileged to be part of a government delivering change, so there is much to learn here, as Steve has written a book full of insight about modern political history.”
Dan Jarvis, security minister and military memoir writer: Harold Wilson by former Cabinet minister Alan Johnson. “I’ve heard about this book called Long Way Home. Some people have told me it’s worth a read… but this year, I really enjoyed Alan Johnson’s biography of Harold Wilson. A brilliant tribute to one of our greatest prime ministers by one of the greatest prime ministers we never had.”
Andrew Mitchell, Tory MP and memoir-writer: Precipice by Robert Harris. “A brilliant account of British politics, scandal and Whitehall 110 years ago just before the First World War.”
Angela Smith, leader of the House of Lords: “It has to be Robert Harris’ Precipice. The combination of history, politics and a (probably) love affair against the backdrop of the start of the Great War is an absolute gem.”
Anthony Seldon, prolific prime ministerial biographer: Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein, on how his parents lived through the Holocaust. “It’s beautifully written, deeply researched and profoundly moving.”
Andrew Gimson, biographer of Boris Johnson: Disraeli by André Maurois. “A brilliant short biography, full of insights into English ways of thinking: Disraeli, the doctrinaire, prided himself on being an opportunist; Gladstone, the opportunist, prided himself on being a doctrinaire.”
Chris Bryant, creative industries minister and writer: The Scapegoat by Lucy Hughes-Hallet, the story of King James I’s favorite and lover George Villiers. “A brilliant evocation of the life of a man who loved a king not wisely but too well.”
Ellie Chowns, Green MP: The Deluge by Stephen Markley. “A deeply engaging tale of assorted heroes and misfits fighting a rising tide of far-right extremism in the context of frighteningly realistic near-future climatic extremes. I listened to this during the short campaign and found it both sobering and galvanising.”
Seb Payne, Times leader-writer and author: Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan, a Dickensian portrait of modern London. “State of the nation novels are very hard to pull off, but once I picked up this I couldn’t stop. Having lived in and around Islington for much of the last decade, it completely captures the febrile mix of rich and poor slammed together.”
Andrew Marr, New Statesman political editor: Caledonian Road. “A proper, big, multi-layered satire on London in our time.”
Eluned Morgan, Welsh First Minister: There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak, about the politics of water in ancient Assyria, Iraq and Victorian London. “I saw her speak about the book at the Hay Literary Festival this year and found her really inspiring. I loved the history, the characters and the switching between different centuries but with a common thread.”
Iain Dale, broadcaster and former head of SW1 publishers Biteback: Finding Margaret, the story of Andrew Pierce’s late-in-life search for his birth mother. “Given that I cry in every episode of Long Lost Family, this was bound to make the eyes moisten. And it did. Amanda Platell emerges as a bit of a heroine from the story.”
Tom Baldwin, Keir Starmer biographer: “Failed State by Sam Freedman shows ‘how’ we can improve our democracy while Autocracy, Inc by Anne Applebaum is a powerful reminder of ‘why’ — or what’s at stake for this government and others like it.”
Yuan Yang, new Labour MP and author: Samarkand, by the French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf. “It’s beautifully written historical fiction, and transports you to the 11th century courts of Persia and Central Asia. It was given to me as a present by my general election organizer.”
Liam Laurence Smyth, senior Commons clerk: Advise and Consent by Allen Drury. “This year I re-read the 1959 novel about the U.S. Senate, which sparked my interest as a teenager in how politics works.”
Natalie Bennett, Green Party peer and former leader: The West: A New History of an Old Idea by archaeologist Naoíse Mac Sweeney. “She entertainingly debunks the whole idea of ‘Western Civilization’ as a North Atlantic construct through mini-biographies, from the refugee Herodotus fleeing xenophobic Athens to 17th century Queen Njinga in what is now Angola, compared at the time to ‘the wise women in Greece and the chaste ones in Rome.’ Possibly not a book to read in front of choleric traditionalists.”
Anushka Asthana, ITV deputy political editor and author of a book on the election: Sovereign Territory by fellow Lobby journalist Andy Bell, a fictional story based in the Brexit wars. “Pacy political thriller. I couldn’t put it down, even if reliving that period was occasionally traumatising!”
Rachel Wearmouth, book on Labour’s election victory co-author: Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. “It’s about the traumatic fallout within a super wealthy family some years after the father was kidnapped for a ransom. It’s relentless and much funnier than that synopsis suggests.”
Peter Knowles, convener of the Press Gallery Book Club: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. “Re-imagines David Copperfield in the opioid-soaked Appalachians. I’ve never come across two pieces of writing ‘speaking’ to each other with such resonance and conviction.”
Tim Shipman, chronicler of the Tory downfall: The Power Broker by Robert Caro, about Robert Moses who was behind most of New York’s 20th century municipal construction. “What does the man who has published 1,600 pages on politics this year read as a treat when he’s finished? A 1,300-page book on politics, of course … It’s an epic tale of principle, ego, greed, corruption and political manipulation — and beautifully written. Caro is the greatest non-fiction writer I’ve ever read.”
