Doing Politics
By Tony Wright
Tony Wright has long been a distinctive, influential and independent-minded voice in British politics. As a Member of Parliament for nearly two decades he represented the voice of sanity and reason in the House of Commons. As Chair of the influential Public Administration Committee – according to Anthony King, one of those rare committee chairmen who ‘have become public figures in their own right’ – he kept up a running commentary on the conduct of government. He was the politician who forewarned of the parliamentary expenses scandal and who took the initiative in getting the House of Commons to reform.
Doing Politics combines a personal account of Tony Wright’s own political experience, which stretches back to the immediate post-war world in which he grew up, with reflections on politics today. Through a selection of articles on a wide range of political issues, it illustrates his belief in the indispensable value of politics, but profound dissatisfaction with the way its business is usually conducted.
Reviews
This is a book to be savoured ...Tony Wright is firmly up there with the ace political observers like Walter Bagehot, R.H. Tawney and George Orwell
Lord Hennessy, The House
that is the triumph of a parliamentarian such as Wright: he helped to strengthen those parts of the constitution that made life difficult or irritating for people in power.
John Rentoul, The Independent
