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A Walk-on Part: Diaries 1994 - 1999 by Chris Mullin (view source)
Revision as of 11:00, 8 April 2018
, 11:00, 8 April 2018no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=A Walk-on Part: Diaries 1994 - 1999
|sort= Walk-on Part: Diaries 1994 - 1999
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=Another irreverent look at the life of an MP. This volume - the last to be published, but the first chronologically - covers the elction election of the first Labour government for nearly two decades. Highly recommended.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=496
|publisher=Profile Books
|isbn=978-1846685231
|website=http://www.chrismullinexmp.com/
|videocover=1846685249|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>1846685230</amazonuk>1846685249|amazonusaznus=<amazonus>B005GUCYEE</amazonus>
}}
New Labour's time in power has been dominated in the public consciousness by Iraq and all that followed and then by the financial meltdown of the later years. It's easy to forget the success of the introduction of the minimum wage, changes in the Lords or the part the UK played in Kosovo – and difficult to see how anything ever came about when you read about the tooing and froing before action or legislation. Mullin was a member of and subsequently Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee and perfectly placed to give a commentary on all that happened. There's fortunately only limited mention of the death of Princess Diana and far more about the deaths of the people who really mattered to him – his secretary, Jacky and Joan Maynard, the trade unionist and Labour politician.
The inside knowledge of what really goes on in politics is gold dust, but the book is lifted about above being a mere political memoir by the inclusion of snippets about Mullin's daughters. As the book opens Sarah is just five and Emma – The Tiny Tyrant – is yet to be born. Their (mis)understanding of what their father did for a living had me laughing out loud on occasions.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
If you are starting the diaries with this volume then you can have the pleasure of going on to read [[A View from the Foothills by Chris Mullin|A View from the Foothills]] and [[Decline and Fall: Diaries 2005 to 2010 by Chris Mullin|Decline and Fall]]. Other political memoirs pale in comparison but we have read and can cautiously recommend [[Off Message: The Complete Antidote to Political Humbug by Bob Marshall-Andrews]].
{{amazontext|amazon=18466852301846685249}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=8458891B005GUCYEE}}
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[[Category:Autobiography]]