Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #795545 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Synopsis
Tim Renton knows all about whips. He used to be one. Indeed, he served as Margaret Thatcher's chief whip in the year before her downfall. This is a book of two parts. The first part of the book is a memoir of Renton's period as ChiefWhip, where he reveals new information about the fall of Margaret Thatcher and his role in it. He has some explosive revelations which will cause the history of the period to be rewritten. The second part of the book examines the history of parliamentary whipping - a fascinating study of the origins of the term and the characters who have held the office over the centuries. His unique style brings the subject to life and his exposure of the dark arts of whipping and the truth behind the whips' little black book is revealed for the first time. Never before has a former whip been so open about what whips actually do, and his former parliamentary colleagues won't thank him for it.

Customer Reviews

A nice insight
Tim Renton was Chief Whip during Margaret Thatcher's later years and was present during her downfall. The first part of his book is devoted to this period. Although he was Chief Whip for a relatively short time, he witnessed some very interesting times.

The second part of the book talks about various Chief Whips from the past and covers Whips from all political parties. Although the greater emphasis is on Tory and Liberal whips as there have been more of them in government to date.

Despite being a Conservative himself Tim Renton writes his book with a distinct lack of political bias. This shows most clearly during the second part of the book and is most welcome.

The role of Chief Whip doesn't get much coverage and this book goes a long way to redressing that imbalance.