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List of British political memoirs

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This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (May 2021)

This is a list of British political memoirs:

Conservative

Image Name Notes Title Year Publisher
David Amess Murdered in 2021 Ayes & Ears: A Survivor's Guide to Westminster 2020 Luath
Michael Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft Party Treasurer 1998-2001 Dirty Politics, Dirty Times 2005 Biteback
Kenneth Baker Home Secretary 1990-2 The Turbulent Years: My Life in Politics 1993 Faber & Faber
Gavin Barwell Downing Street Chief of Staff 2017-9 How to Win a Marginal Seat: My Year Fighting For My Political Life 2016 Biteback
Chief of Staff: Notes from Downing Street 2021 Atlantic
John Bercow Speaker of the Commons 2009-19 Unspeakable 2020 Orion
John Biffen Leader of the Commons 1982-7 Semi-Detached 2013 Biteback
Robert Boothby MP for Aberdeen and Kincardine East 1924-50 I Fight To Live: Autobiography 1947
R. A. Butler First Secretary of State 1962-3 The Art of the Possible 1971
David Cameron Prime Minister 2010-6 For the Record 2019 William Collins
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington Secretary-General of NATO 1984-8 Reflect on Things Past: The Memoirs of Lord Carrington 1988 Harper & Row
Austen Chamberlain Foreign Secretary 1924-9
Joint Leader 1921-2		 Down the Years 1935 Cassell
Sydney Chapmen Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 1992-5 Back to the Drawing Board: Memoirs of a Backbencher 2010 Absolute Design Solutions
Alan Clark MP for Plymouth Sutton 1974-92 Alan Clark Diaries 1993-2002 Orion
Ken Clarke Lord Chancellor 2010-2 Kind of Blue 2016 Pan Macmillan
Winston Churchill Prime Minister 1940-5 and '5105 The Second World War 1948-53 Cassell
Alec Douglas-Home Prime Minister 1963-4 The Way the Wind Blows: An Autobiography by Lord Home 1976 Fontana
Alan Duncan MP for Rutland and Melton 1992-2019 In the Thick of It: The Private Diaries of a Minister 2021 HarperCollins
Anthony Eden Prime Minister 1955-7 The Memoirs of Sir Anthony Eden: Full Circle 1960 Cassell
Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler Party Chairman 1992-4 A Political Suicide: The Conservatives' Voyage into the Wilderness 2008 Politico's
Mark Francois Chair of the European Research Group Spartan Victory: The Inside Story of the Battle for Brexit 2021 Independently
Norman Tebbit Party Chairman 1985-7 Upwardly Mobile: An Autobiography 1988 Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Peter Temple-Morris MP for Leominster 1974-2001 Across the Floor: A Life in Dissenting Politics 2015 I. B. Tauris
Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister 1979-90 The Downing Street Years 1993 HarperCollins
The Path to Power 1995
John Major Prime Minister 1990-7 John Major: The Autobiography 1999 HarperCollins
Brian Mawhinney Party Chairman 1995-7 Just A Simple Belfast Boy 2013 Biteback
Sir Anthony Meyer, 3rd Baronet Leadership candidate in 1989 Stand Up and be Counted 1990 Random House
John Boyd-Carpenter Chief Secretary to the Treasury 1962-4 Way of Life: The Memoirs of John Boyd-Carpenter 1980 Sidgwick & Jackson
Sebastian Coe President of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2008-12 Running My Life: The Autobiography 2013 Hodder & Stoughton
Nick de Bois MP for Enfield North 2010-5 Confessions of a Recovering MP 2017 Biteback
Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington Baroness-in-Waiting 1983-5 and 92-7 Coming Up Trumps: A Memoir 2015 Pan Macmillan
Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton Father of the House of Commons 1945-51 Fifty Tumultuous Years 1955 Hutchinson
Edward Heath Prime Minister 1970-4 The Course of My Life 1998 Bloomsbury
Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone Lord Chancellor 1970-4 and 1979–87 The Door Wherein I Went 1975 Collins
A Sparrow's Flight: Memoirs 1990 Fontana
Ann Widdecombe Minister of State for Prisons 1995-7 Strictly Ann: The Autobiography 2013 Orion
David Waddington Governor of Bermuda 1992-7 Memoirs: Dispatches from Margaret Thatcher's last Home Secretary 2012 Biteback
William Waldegrave Health Secretary 1990-2 A Different Kind of Weather: A Memoir 2015 Little, Brown Book Group
Douglas Hurd Foreign Secretary 1989-95 Memoirs 2003 Abacus
Bernard Ingham Downing Street Press Secretary 1979-90 Kill the Messenger 1991 HarperCollins
Tom King Defence Secretary 1989-92 A King Among Ministers: Fifty Years in Parliament Recalled 2021 Unicorn
Ian Lang Scotland Secretary 1990-5 Blue Remembered Years: A Political Memoir 2002 Politico's
Nigel Lawson Chancellor of the Exchequer 1983-9 The View from No.11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical 1992 Bantam
Andrea Leadsom Leader of the House of Commons 2017-9 Snakes and Ladders: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Politics 2022 Biteback
Selwyn Lloyd Speaker of the House of Commons 1971-6 Mr Speaker, Sir 1976 Cape
Suez 1956: A Personal Account 1978
Andrew Mitchell International Development Secretary 2010-2 Beyond A Fringe: Tales from a Reformed Establishment Lackey 2021 Biteback
Emma Nicholson MEP for South East England 1999-2009 Secret Society: Inside - and Outside - the Conservative Party 1996
Matthew Parris MP for West Derbyshire 1979-86 Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics 2002 Penguin
Chris Patten Governor of Hong Kong 1992-7 First Confession: A Sort of Memoir 2017 Penguin
Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale Secretary of State for Transport 1983-6 My Style of Government: The Thatcher Years 1991 Hutchinson
Malcolm Rifkind Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee 2010-5 Power and Pragmatism: The Memoirs of Malcolm Rifkind 2016 Biteback
Sasha Swire Wife of a Minister of State 2010-6 Diary of an MP's Wife: Inside and Outside Power 2020 Little, Brown Book Group
Frank Taylor MP for Manchester Moss Side 1961-74 Called to Account 1993 Pentland
Teddy Taylor Baby of the Commons 1964-5 Teddy Boy Blue 2008 Kennedy & Boyd
George Walden MP for Buckingham 1983-97 Lucky George: Memoirs of an Anti-Politician 1999 Allen Lane
Peter Walker Wales Secretary 1987-90 Staying Power: An Autobiography 1991 Bloomsbury
Rhodes Boyson MP for Brent North 1974-97 Speaking My Mind 1994 Peter Owen
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir Governor-General of Canada 1935-40 Memory Hold-the-Door 1940 Hodder and Stoughton
Duff Cooper Ambassador to France 1944-8 Old Men Forget 1953 Rupert Hart-Davis
Julian Critchley MP for Aldershot 1970-97 The Palace of Varieties 1983 Faber & Faber
A Bag of Boiled Sweets 1994
Edward du Cann Chairman of the 1922 Committee 1972-84 Two Lives: The Political and Business Careers of Edward du Cann 1995 Images
Rory Stewart MP for Penrith & the Border 2010-19 Politics on the Edge 2023 Jonathan Cape
George Gardiner MP for Reigate 1974-97 A Bastard's Tale: The Political Memoirs of George Gardiner 1999 Aurum
Teresa Gorman MP for Billericay 1987-2001 No, Prime Minister! 2001 J. Blake
Jerry Hayes MP for Harwood 1983-97 An Unexpected MP: Confessions of a Political Gossip 2014 Biteback
Geoffrey Howe Deputy Prime Minister 1989-90 Conflict of Loyalty 1994 Macmillan
Gerald Nabarro MP for Kidderminster 1950-64 NAB 1: Portrait of a Politician 1970 R. Maxwell
Exploits of a Politician 1973 Arthur Barker
Richard Needham MP for North Wiltshire 1979-97 Honourable Member 1983 P. Stephens
One Man, Two Worlds: Memoir of a Businessman in Politics 2021 Blackstaff
Nigel Nicolson MP for Bournemouth East & Christchurch 1952-9 Long Life: Memoirs 1997 Phoenix
John Nott Defence Secretary 1981-3 Here Today Gone Tomorrow: Memoirs of an Errant Politician 2002 Politico's
Elizabeth Peacock MP for Batley and Spen 1983-97 A Yorkshire Lass at the Court of Thatcher 2013 Pen & Sword
James Spicer MP for West Dorset 1974-97 Jim's Journey 2014 Independently
Michael Spicer Chairman of the 1922 Committee 2001-10 The Spicer Diaries 2012 St Martin's
Edward Spears MP for Carlisle 1931-45 Assignment to Catastrophe 1954-5 A. A. Wyn
Cecil Parkinson Party Chairman 1981-3 and '97-8 Right at the centre: An Autobiography 1992 Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Liz Truss Prime Minister 2022 Ten Years to Save the West 2024 Biteback
Boris Johnson Prime Minister 2019-22 Unleashed 2024 William Collins
Theresa May Prime Minister 2016-19 The Abuse of Power 2023 Headline
Matt Hancock Secretary of State for Health & Social Care 2018-21 Pandemic Diaries 2022 Biteback
Craig Oliver Downing Street Director of Communications Unleashing Demons 2016 Hodder & Stoughton
Nadine Dorries MP for Mid-Bedfordshire 2005-23 The Plot: The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson 2023 HarperCollins

Labour

Image Name Notes Title Year Publisher
Ann Clwyd MP for Cynon Valley 1984-2019 Rebel With A Cause: A Political Life 2017
Diane Abbott MP Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987 A Woman Like Me: A Memoir 2022 Penguin
Clement Attlee Prime Minister 1945-51 As It Happened 1954 Viking
Ed Balls Children, Schools and Families Secretary 2007-10 Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics 2016 Random House
Tony Blair Prime Minister 1997-2007 A Journey 2010 Random House
Tony Benn Energy Secretary 1975-9 Dare to be a Daniel: Then and Now 2012 Random House
David Blunkett Home Secretary 2001-4 The Blunkett Tapes: My Life in the Bear Pit 2006 Bloomsbury
Betty Boothroyd Speaker of the Commons 1992-2000 The Autobiography 2002 Penguin Random House
George Brown, Baron George-Brown Foreign Secretary 1966-8 In My Way: Memoirs 1971 Gollancz
Gordon Brown Prime Minister 2007-10 My Life, Our Times 2017 Random House
W. J. Brown General Secretary of the Civil Service Clerical Association 1921-42 So Far... 1943
James Callaghan Prime Minister 1976-9 Time and Chance 1987 Collins
Alastair Campbell Downing Street Press Secretary 1997-2000 The Blair Years 2007 A. Knopf
Michael Cashman MEP for West Midlands 1999-2014 One of Them: From Albert Square to Parliament Square 2021 Bloomsbury
Barbara Castle First Secretary of State 1968-70 Fighting All The Way 1993 Macmillan
Peter Hain Wales Secretary 2002-8 and 09-10 Outside In 2012 Biteback
Harriet Harman Interim Leader 2010 and 2015 A Woman's Work 2017 Penguin
Roy Hattersley Deputy Leader 1983-92 Who Goes Home?: Scenes from a Political Life 1995 Little, Brown Book Group
Peter Mandelson Business Secretary 2008-10 The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour 2010 Harper
Bob Marshall-Andrews MP for Medway 1997-2010 Off Message: The Complete Antidote to Political Humbug 2011 Profile
Roy Mason Northern Ireland Secretary 1976-9 Paying the Price 1999 Robert Hale
Greville Janner MP for Leicester West 1974-97 To Life!: The Memoirs of Greville Janner 2016 Sutton
Alan Johnson MP for Hull West & Hessle 1997-2017 This Boy: A Memoir of a Childhood 2013 Bantam
Please, Mister Postman 2014 Transworld
The Long and Winding Road 2016
In My Life: A Music Memoir 2018
Carwyn Jones First Minister of Wales 2009-2018 Not Just Politics 2020 Headline
Robert Kilroy-Silk MP for Ormskirk 1974-83 Hard Labour: The Political Diary of Robert Kilroy-Silk 1986 Chatto & Windus
Oona King MP for Bethnal Green & Bow 1997-2005 House Music: The Oona King Diaries 2007 Bloomsbury
Damian McBride Downing Street Press Secretary 2007-9 Power Trip: A Decade of Policy, Plots and Spin 2013 Biteback
Len McCluskey General Secretary of United Always Red 2021 OR
Henry McLeish First Minister of Scotland 2000-1 Scotland First: Truth and Consequences 2004 Mainstream
Ian Mikardo MP for Bow & Poplar 1983-7 Back-Bencher 1988 Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Ernest Millington MP for Chelmsford 1945-50 Was That Really Me? 2006 Fultus
Austin Mitchell MP for Great Grimsby 1977-2015 Austin Mitchell's Yorkshire Jokes 2001 Great Northern
Austin Mitchell's Yorkshire Sayings 2004
Calendar Boy 2014 Pen & Sword
Revenge of the Rich: The Neoliberal Revolution in Britain and New Zealand 2017 Canterbury University
Confessions of a Political Maverick 2018 Biteback
Rhodri Morgan First Minister of Wales 2000-9 Rhodri: A Political Life in Wales and Westminster 2017 University of Wales
Herbert Morrison Interim Leader 1955 An Autobiography 1960 Odhams
Mo Mowlam Northern Ireland Secretary 1997-9 Momentum: The Struggle for Peace, Politics and the People 2002 Hodder & Stoughton
Maureen Colquhoun MP for Northampton North 1974-9 A Woman in the House 1980 Scan
Robin Cook Foreign Secretary 1997-2001 Point of Departure 2003 Simon & Schuster
Hugh Dalton Chancellor of the Exchequer 1945-7 High Tide and After: Memoirs 1945-1960 1953 Muller
Tam Dalyell Father of the Commons 2001-5 The Importance of Being Awkward: The Autobiography of Tam Dalyell 2011 Birlinn
Alistair Darling Chancellor of the Exchequer 2007-10 Back from the Brink: 1,000 Days at Number 11 2011 Atlantic
Paul Flynn MP for Newport West 1987-2019 The Usual Suspect 2010 Biteback
George Galloway MP for Glasgow Hillhead 1987-2005 I'm Not the Only One 2004 Penguin
Parmjit Dhanda MP for Gloucester 2001-10 My Political Race: An Outsider's Journey to the Heart of British Politics 2015 Biteback
Tom Driberg Party Chairman 1957-8 Ruling Passions: The Autobiography by Tom Driberg 1977 Stein and Day
Maria Fyfe MP for Glasgow Maryhill 1987-2001 A Problem Like Maria: A Woman's Eye View of Life as an MP 2014 Luath
Bryan Gould Chair of the Fabian Society 1988-9 Goodbye to All That 1995 Macmillan
Denis Healey Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974-9 The Time of my Life 1994 Random House
Eric Heffer MP for Liverpool Walton 1964-91 Never a Yes Man: The Life and Politics of an Adopted Liverpudlian 1991 Verso
Geoff Hoon Defence Secretary 1999-2005 See How They Run 2021 Unicorn
Denis Howell Minister for Sport 1974-9 Made in Birmingham: The Memoirs of Denis Howell 1990 Queen Anne
Ken Livingstone Mayor of London 2000-8 You Can't Say That 2011 Faber & Faber
Stan Newens MEP for Central London 1984-99 In Quest of a Fairer Society: My Life and Politics 2011 Memoir Club
Fiona Onasanya MP for Peterborough 2017-9 Snakes and Adders: A Set Up for the Step Up 2020 Independently
Tom Pendry MP for Stalybridge and Hyde 1970-2001 Taking It On The Chin: Memoirs of a Parliamentary Bruiser 2016 Biteback
Jess Phillips MP for Birmingham Yardley since 2015 Everything You Really Need to Know About Politics: My Life as an MP 2016 Simon & Schuster
Edith Picton-Turbervill MP for The Wrekin 1929-31 Life is Good: An Autobiography 1939 F. Muller
John Prescott Deputy Prime Minister 1997-2007 Prezza: My Story: Pulling No Punches 2008 Headline Review
Nick Raynsford MP for Greenwich and Woolwich 1997-2015 Substance Not Spin: An Insider's View of Success and Failure in Government 2016 Policy
Geoffrey Robinson MP for Coventry North West 1976-2019 The Unconventional Minister: My Life Inside New Labour 2000 Michael Joseph
Joan Ruddock MP for Lewisham Deptford 1987-2015 Going Nowhere: A Memoir 2016 Biteback
Hartley Shawcross Attorney General for England and Wales 1945-51 Life Sentence: The Memoirs of Lord Shawcross 1995 Constable
Wes Streeting MP for Ilford North since 2015 One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up: A Memoir of Growing Up and Getting On 2023 Hodder & Stoughton
George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy Speaker of the Commons 1976-83 Mr. Speaker: The Memoirs of Viscount Tonypandy 1985 Century
Jack Straw Lord Chancellor 2007-10 Last Man Standing: Memoirs of a Political Survivor 2012 Pan Macmillan
George Wigg, Baron Wigg MP for Dudley 1945-67 George Wigg 1972 Joseph
Harold Wilson Prime Minister 1964-70 and '74-6 Memoirs: The Making of a Prime Minister 1916–1964 1986 Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Jack Ashley MP for Stoke-on-Trent South 1966-92 Acts of Defiance 1994 Reinhardt
Jeremy Bray MP for Middlesbrough West (1962-70), Motherwell and Wishaw (1974-13) and Motherwell South (1983-97) Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Science,Politics and Trust: A Parliamentary Life 2004 Elizabeth Bray
Fenner Brockway General Secretary of the Independent Labour Party 1933-9 Inside the Left: Thirty Years of Platform, Press, Prison and Parliament 1942 G. Allen & Unwin
Towards Tomorrow 1977 Hart-Davis, MacGibbon
98 Not Out 1986 Quartet

Liberal

Includes Liberals, Liberal Democrats and Social Democrats.

Image Name Notes Title Year Publisher
Paddy Ashdown Leader 1988-99 A Fortunate Life: The Autobiography of Paddy Ashdown 2010 Aurum
Norman Baker MP for Lewes 1997-2015
Minister of State for Crime Prevention 2013-14		 Against the Grain 2015 Biteback
Vince Cable Deputy Leader 2006-10
MP for Twickenham 1997-2015		 Free Radical: A Memoir 2010 Atlantic
Menzies Campbell Leader 2006-7 My Autobiography 2008 Hodder & Stoughton
Nick Clegg Leader 2007–15, Deputy Prime Minister 2010-15 Politics: Between the Extremes 2016 Random House
Tim Farron Leader 2015-17 A Better Ambition: Confessions of a Faithful Liberal 2019 SPCK
Jeremy Thorpe Leader 1967-76 In My Own Time 1999 Biteback
Shirley Williams Leader in the House of Lords 2001-4 Climbing the Bookshelves: The Autobiography of Shirley Williams 2009 Little, Brown Book Group
Chris Rennard, Baron Rennard Chief Executive 2003-9 Winning Here: My Campaigning Life 2018 Biteback
David Steel Leader 1976-88
Liberal Leader 1976-88		 Against Goliath: David Steel's Story 1989 Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Jo Grimond Leader 1956-67 Memoirs 1979 Holmes & Meier
David Lloyd George Prime Minister 1916-22
Leader 1926-31		 War Memoirs of David Lloyd George 1933-7 Ivor Nicholson & Watson
Bill Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank Leader in the House of Lords 1997-2001 Fourth Among Equals 2000 Politico's
Cyril Smith Chief Whip in the House of Commons 1976-7 Big Cyril: The Autobiography 1977 W. H. Allen
Mark Oaten Chair 2001-3 Screwing Up: How One MP Survived Politics, Scandal and Turning Forty 2009 Biteback
Dick Taverne, Baron Taverne MP for Lincoln 1962-74 Against the Tide: Politics and Beyond - A Memoir 2014 Biteback
Roy Jenkins SDP Leader 1982-3
Leader in the Lords 1988-97		 A Life at the Centre 1991 Macmillan
David Laws MP for Yeovil 2001-15 22 Days in May: The Birth of the Lib Dem-Conservative Coalition 2010 Biteback
Coalition: The Inside Story of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government 2016
Coalition Diaries, 2012–2015 2017

Others

Crossbenchers

UKIP

  • Guinea a Minute by Godfrey Bloom (2013)
  • Nigel Farage (Biteback)
    • Fighting Bull (2010)
    • Flying Free (2011)
    • The Purple Revolution: The Year That Changed Everything (2015)

SNP

  • Stop the World: The Autobiography of Winnie Ewing by Winnie Ewing (2004)
  • The Dream Shall Never Die: 100 Days that Changed Scotland Forever by Alex Salmond (HarperCollins, 2015)
  • A Difference of Opinion: My Political Journey by Jim Sillars (2021)

Plaid Cymru

  • For the Sake of Wales: The Memoirs of Gwynfor Evans by Gwynfor Evans (1996)

Minor Parties

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