The Impossible Office?
The History of the British Prime Minister - Revised and Updated
Author(s): Anthony Seldon , Assisted by Jonathan Meakin, Illias Thoms, Tom Egerton
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A Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year. The recent political chaos enfolding Downing Street provides the framing for the extraordinary story of the office of Prime Minister, and how and why it has endured longer than any other democratic political office in world history. Sir Anthony Seldon, historian of Number 10, explores the lives and careers, crises and scandals, and successes and failures of our great Prime Ministers from Robert Walpole to Clement Attlee and Margaret Thatcher, up to the recent churn of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Seldon discusses which of our PMs have been most effective and why, as well as probing the changing relationship between the Monarchy and the Prime Minister in intimate detail. A celebration of the humanity, frailty, work and achievements of 57 remarkable individuals who averted revolution and civil war, leading the country through times of peace, crisis and war.
- Features a new chapter on the recent three premierships of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak
- Looks forward to the coming General Election and asks what could the next Prime Minister do differently?
- Reveals how and why the Prime Minister took over from the Crown as the most powerful figure in Britain
- Explains why the Chancellor has become the second most powerful figure in Britain, and why the job of Foreign Secretary lost its way
- Looks at Prime Ministers as human beings, their spouses and families, and the pathos of the post-premiership
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