Matthew Parris has spent the last thirteen years laughing at parliament from his birds-eye seat in the press gallery, as political sketchwriter for The Times. Running through the humour, though, has been a vein of sharp observation. He spotted Tony Blair's talents when he was just a humble opposition spokesman; he saw his flaws, too, the minute he stood up to become party leader. And he watched in horrified amusement as the Conservative Party, for whom he was once an MP, roller-coasted from triumph to disaster. Focusing on 1997-2001 - the four years when it seemed that Labour could do no wrong and the Tories couldn't manage to do anything right - Parris considers not the policies but the performances. These include William Hague's often sparkling but doomed leadership, Blair's strutting, Charles Kennedy's awkward Lib-Lab straddle, Robin Cook's fretting, Ann Widdecombe's extraordinary pantomime dame and Peter Mandelson's watch, silent and pale from the wings. His extraordinary wit and lively imagination are finely blended with his insider's knowledge, creating hilarious descriptions of life at Westminster.
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"* 'Matthew Parris has the highest strike-rate of any living sketchwriter' Observer
About the Author
Matthew Parris is also the author of the bestselling Robson Books title Look Behind You. Matthew Parris will be quitting his perch as sketchwriter at the end of 2001, after thirteen years. Off Message could not come at a more apt moment.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Political journalism at its (lighhearted) best,
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This review is from: Off Message (Paperback)
By turns informative, amusing, sceptical, ironic and satirical, "Off-message" is a distillation of vintage Matthew Parris. Covering about five years (late 1996 to late 2001), it contains over 200 parliamentary sketches originally published in The Times. This period includes the successful election campaign run by Tony Blair and his "New Labour" party, after nearly two decades in opposition to the Conservatives, and the first four years of the new dispensation in which "Things can only get better".Just one word of advice - this book is like a very, very large box of assorted chocolates. Dip into it in moderation, as too much at a time can be cloying. Wisely used, however, it is not just very funny indeed, but also educational and full of interesting ideas. Parris has been there, done it, and got the t-shirt. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament, and in that capacity interacted with political giants like Margaret Thatcher. His experience of practical politics gives his writing far greater depth and insight than that of most journalists. But his writing style, far from resembling the plodding prose of so many politicians, is sparklingly witty. He is not always right, of course, but he has the moral courage to admit that freely and carry on.
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