With a general election now underway here in the UK, here’s a list of ten novels about politics, politicians or elections. Links from each title will take you to the book description on Goodreads.
Also check out my election campaign themed bookstack over on Instagram.)
- The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope – Can a morally scrupulous gentleman make an effective leader?
- Corridors of Power by C.P. Snow – The corridors and committee rooms of Whitehall become home to the manipulation of political power.
- House of Cards by Michael Dobbs – Francis Urquhart is Chief Whip. He has his hands on every secret in politics – and is willing to betray them all to become Prime Minister.
- First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer – Four ambitious new MPs take their seats at Westminster but only one can gain the ultimate goal – the office of Prime Minister.
- The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling – An election for an empty seat on a town’s council becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen.
- All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren – The rise and fall of a man who begins his political career as an idealistic man of the people but becomes corrupted by success
- The Manchurian Candidate by Robert Condon – An ex-prisoner of war is brainwashed by a Chinese psychological expert and programmed to kill a US presidential nominee.
- It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis – A vain, outlandish, anti-immigrant, fearmongering demagogue runs for President of the United States – and wins.
- A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin – MI5 conspires with city and press barons to bring down former steel worker Harry Perkins who has led the Labour party to a stunning victory.
And, because I can never miss an opportunity to include a novel by John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps in which Richard Hannay, encounters ‘The Radical Candidate’ and finds himself speaking at a campaign event.
What Cathy Read Next... 