Simon Kuper - Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK

2023-09-28

There is a thought that UK politics is still suffering from 'long Boris'. His attitudes and behaviour still cast a long shadow. How did it all come to pass in the first place? How did Johnson and his coterie ever make it to the top of the pyramid? In this detailed and depressing book FT journalist Simon Kuper traces the idea of Brexit back to toffs in the Oxford Union in the late 1980s. As the UK government enters a death spiral in 2023 and the Conservative party fractures yet again t...

There is a thought that UK politics is still suffering from 'long Boris'. His attitudes and behaviour still cast a long shadow.

How did it all come to pass in the first place? How did Johnson and his coterie ever make it to the top of the pyramid?

In this detailed and depressing book FT journalist Simon Kuper traces the idea of Brexit back to toffs in the Oxford Union in the late 1980s.

As the UK government enters a death spiral in 2023 and the Conservative party fractures yet again the events covered in this book must surely be the base cause of the malaise.

2023 marks 50 years since the UK realised it no longer had an empire and joined Europe. And then catastrophically 52% of the electorate were persuaded that their lives would be better if we left. How wrong can you be?

Comments (3)