Beyond a Fringe: Tales from a reformed Establishment lackey
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A Times Political Book of the Year A Daily Mail Political Book of the Year A Guardian Political Book of the Year An Independent Political Book of the Year Veering from the hilarious to the tragic, Andrew Mitchell's tales from the parliamentary jungle make for one of the most entertaining political memoirs in years. From his prep school years, straight out of Evelyn Waugh, through the Army to Cambridge, the City of London and the Palace of Westminster, Mitchell has passed through a series of British institutions at a time of furious social change – in the process becoming rather more cynical about the Establishment. Here, he brilliantly lifts the lid on its inner workings, from the punctilio of high finance to the dark arts of the government Whips' Office, and reveals how he accidentally started Boris Johnson's political career – an act which rebounded on him spectacularly. Engagingly honest about his ups and downs in politics, Beyond a Fringe is crammed with riotous political anecdotes and irresistible insider gossip from the heart of Westminster.
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I was brought up in the 1980s in a place called Hodge Hill in Birmingham by a Labour supporting family. During my mid to late teens, I got quite involved in my local Constituency Labour Party and at the time I was being groomed in a career with the party perhaps even ending up as an MP.
I remember at around the age of 17 I had been volunteering for Terry Davis's Election Campaign which as history tells was successful.
As a thank you for all my hard work Terry invited me down to Westminster as his guest to the houses of parliament. I was lucky enough to enter the chambers of both the commons and the lords and eventually have lunch on the terrace before watching my MP in the stranger's gallery. I remember at the time that this is the life for me and I became obsessed with becoming an MP in my own right.
