The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn

Left Out

A blistering narrative exposé of infighting, skulduggery and chaos in Corbyn's Labour party

A stunningly good book with jaw-dropping revelations on every page, Left Out is the ultimate inside story of how Jeremy Corbyn went from the brink of victory to one of the worst defeats in British political history. It is both a breath-taking work of political journalism and a gripping first draft of history that is unlikely ever to be bettered. Unquestionably the political book of the year

An outstanding, balanced account of the Corbyn leadership from 2017-2019. My one tip? Don't read it late, you won't be able to sleep because of the anger

Deeply reported ... reads like a thriller ... one of the more riveting stories in modern British political history ... told with panache and pace ... Gossip aside, Left Out delivers a piercing analysis of the pressures on Labour's leadership as the party broke on the rocks of Brexit

Brimming with such jaw-dropping moments, forensically gleaned from interviews with virtually all the leading characters from this extraordinary political period ... entertaining and immensely readable ... the scars and grudges, captured magnificently by Pogrund and Maguire, are still fresh ... The authors don't attempt to take sides ... instead they give ample space to both sides ... to allow readers to make up their own minds ... as sensational a tale as any TV drama ... one of the most remarkable periods in British political history, and Left Out is an objective, fact-packed and fascinating record of it

It really is every bit as good as people say; superbly written, exceptionally detailed, scrupulously fair, but above all gripping. It's hard to put down

Meticulous and even-handed  ... The book's detailed accounts of tension, fallings-out and the ingrained fondness for factional warfare on all sides of the Labour party often rock along

Both a dark thriller and a farce ... admirably objective ... I have not read an account of the immediate past that is as thorough and balanced as that produced by Pogrund and Maguire ... [they] open all the previously sealed doors that were installed to protect the fragile leader

There are many eye popping revelations in Left Out, the definitive post mortem of the Corbyn project

Full of good stories [and] genuine insights ... well told and instructive ... In their excellent epilogue the authors draw back the lens and offer a calm and acute analysis of the Corbyn Project

One of the most absorbing and compulsive reads I have encountered in years ... Only by drawing on a huge range of willing sources could Pogrund and Maguire have produced such a rich narrative. It is to their immense credit that they produced such an amusing one

A must-read for any Labour supporter who wants to know more about what went on behind the scenes ... whatever your factional allegiance ... its central theme is a truthful one

Highly readable ... meticulously researched

Maguire and Pogrund have, I am certain, spoken off the record to almost everyone who mattered on both sides of Labour's civil war ... a huge and detailed trove of revelations

A detailed account... [Left Out] contain[s] thoughtful observations that prompt wider questions about power and leadership, friendship and loyalty, solidarity and the capacity to engage people beyond your own camp.

Gabriel Pogrund (Author) Gabriel Pogrund is Whitehall Editor at the Sunday Times. He was named Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards (2023). He won Scoop of the Year at the London Press Club Awards (2022) and was the Laurence Stern Fellow at the Washington Post in 2018. Patrick Maguire (Author) Patrick Maguire is a political columnist for The Times and senior political correspondent for Times Radio. He is a regular commentator on Labour politics for TV and radio and won the 2016 Anthony Howard Award for Young Journalists.

'THE POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR' Tim Shipman 
 
A blistering narrative exposé of infighting, skulduggery and chaos in Corbyn's Labour party, now revised and updated. 
 
* A Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times and i Newspaper Book of the Year * 
 
Left Out tells, for the first time, the astonishing full story of Labour's recent transformation and historic defeat. 
 
Drawing on unrivalled access, this blistering exposé moves from the peak of Jeremy Corbyn's popularity and the shock hung parliament of 2017 to Labour's humbling in 2019 and the election of Keir Starmer. It reveals a party at war with itself, and puts the reader in the room as tensions boil over, sworn enemies forge unlikely alliances and lifelong friendships are tested to breaking point. 
 
This is the ultimate account of the greatest experiment seen in British politics for a generation. 
 
'Gripping... Every bit as good as people say' Guardian 
 
'Reads like a thriller...told with panache and pace' Financial Times 
 
'The definitive post-mortem of the Corbyn project' Sunday Times

Patrick Maguire

Gabriel Pogrund

Gripping, exhaustively researched and fast-paced . . . cutting one-liners . . . nuanced character studies . . . scenes are recreated novelistically . . . it reads as if the authors were alongside McSweeney and Starmer as they grappled with multiple crises

The compelling story of how one intensely motivated man grabbed control of a broken party, eviscerated its left and ruthlessly reforged Labour into a power-hungry machine . . . extremely well-sourced . . . dramatic detail . . . a rattling tale terrifically well told

Fascinating . . . devastating . . . full of lively stories . . . this is certainly a book you need to read to understand this government

Unsparing . . . Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund’s brilliant new history of Labour’s path back to power . . . [contains] so many golden nuggets . . . on almost every page . . . it gives you a depth and richness to understanding the tensions within the Starmer Project

Revealing . . . pacy . . . dispassionate but informed . . . a cracking read

Impeccably written, impeccably researched, impeccably sourced

There are revelations on virtually every page of this addictive and compelling book... Maguire and Pogrund are impressive political journalists'

Maguire and Pogrund . . . fish out the juicy niblets and scoops . . . revealing . . . [a] compelling account of what it took for Labour to get back, get in — and what it will require to stay there

Pogrund and Maguire . . . bring it all to life . . . If you have questions about Starmer’s budding reign . . . expect many of them to be answered

This is an astonishing feat of journalism. The writers obtained a remarkable level of access, and in the end, you feel that this is as close to an accurate retelling of Starmer’s rise as anyone could have given

Two serious journalists who have provided an extraordinarily detailed and sometimes bloodstained account of Labour's transformation over the past five years

A fascinating new book . . . telling the inside story of Keir Starmer’s leadership . . . shines a light on the relationship between leading politicians and their influential advisers

Without question the political book of the year. With revelations on every page, Get In is the book about Keir Starmer we have all been waiting for, and it is impossible to fully understand this government unless you read it

Stuffed full of scoops, this is the moment-by-moment story of Labour's dramatic journey back to power, the plots and the personal relationships that drove Starmer into Downing Street, revealing who's really in charge

A gripping tale of how one man went from political obscurity to running the country – and took Keir Starmer along for the ride. The revelations made me gasp, wince and wonder how the next few years will unfold

A gripping story of raw politics and ruthless men from two of Britain's best young journalists

A superb work of contemporary history which defines the Starmer premiership

An extraordinary story, brilliantly told . . . Through sweating their sources Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund have popped the bonnet of a political party and exposed what lies beneath

An impeccably sourced and enjoyably written history of Labour’s rise to power by two of Westminster’s sharpest young journalists

A tale of fixes, fiddling and factionalism…brilliantly told… [and] great fun… It is no small achievement… Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund have popped the bonnet of a political party and exposed what lies beneath

Detailed, scrupulously reported . . . Get In is invaluable for anyone wondering how on earth we got here . . . Revelations come thick and fast

Maguire’s and Pogrund’s account, rich in detail and replete with insider insights, provides a compelling, if contentious, narrative of Starmer’s ascent… a valuable…record of a critical chapter in contemporary British political history

A well-researched and sourced account of the strategizing and infighting behind the victory – and provides a valuable portrait of people currently running Britain

Two bright young journalists on this paper give us the inside story of how Keir Starmer and Morgan McSweeney, his chief of staff and the most interesting character in this account, fought the battle to win Labour back from the Corbynistas

This engaging book offers a journalistic view of how the Labour Party under Kier Starmer won the 2024 election

The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer

Get In is the definitive behind-the-scenes account of Labour’s brutal reinvention and dramatic return to power under Keir Starmer. 
 
From electoral wipeout in 2019 to landslide victory in 2024 and on into Labour’s first hundred days in government, Get In is a blistering narrative exposé of the most significant and ruthless political transformation in a generation. At its heart is Morgan McSweeney, a mastermind of political subterfuge and author of a strategy, years in the planning, to eviscerate the party, bury the left and rebuild it as a vote-winning machine. In Starmer he saw the perfect vessel for his vision: a man with no political identity but burning with ambition and a single all-consuming principle: to win. 
 
Drawing on unrivalled access throughout the party and extensive leaks of internal party documents and WhatsApp messages, Get In shows how together they betrayed and marginalised Corbyn and his followers, then forged a path in which promises, and at times principles, were readily discarded in pursuit of power. From the near-fatal experience of Beergate to the furore over Israel and Gaza and Labour’s chaotic entry into government under Sue Gray, we are in the room as colleagues considered which of them would run to replace Starmer, as Angela Rayner fought back against demotion and struggled to prove herself in the eyes of the British establishment, and as the leader’s inner circle repeatedly crushed their opponents inside and outside of the party. 
 
Richly peopled with the major figures of Labour present and past, as well as those who were pulling the strings of power out of sight, this is the coming-of-age story of Britain's government and a parable for the politics of our times: in an era in which faith in politics has plummeted, this is how to game your way to the ultimate prize. But what on earth do you do when you get there?

Gabriel Pogrund

Praise for Get In

Gripping, exhaustively researched and fast-paced . . . cutting one-liners . . . nuanced character studies . . . scenes are recreated novelistically . . . it reads as if the authors were alongside McSweeney and Starm ...

The compelling story of how one intensely motivated man grabbed control of a broken party, eviscerated its left and ruthlessly reforged Labour into a power-hungry machine . . . extremely well-sourced . . . dramatic ...

Fascinating . . . devastating . . . full of lively stories . . . this is certainly a book you need to read to understand this government

Gripping, exhaustively researched and fast-paced . . . cutting one-liners . . . nuanced character studies . . . scenes are recreated novelistically . . . it reads as if the authors were alongside McSweeney and Starm ...

The compelling story of how one intensely motivated man grabbed control of a broken party, eviscerated its left and ruthlessly reforged Labour into a power-hungry machine . . . extremely well-sourced . . . dramatic ...

Fascinating . . . devastating . . . full of lively stories . . . this is certainly a book you need to read to understand this government

Gripping, exhaustively researched and fast-paced . . . cutting one-liners . . . nuanced character studies . . . scenes are recreated novelistically . . . it reads as if the authors were alongside McSweeney and Starm ...

The compelling story of how one intensely motivated man grabbed control of a broken party, eviscerated its left and ruthlessly reforged Labour into a power-hungry machine . . . extremely well-sourced . . . dramatic ...

Fascinating . . . devastating . . . full of lively stories . . . this is certainly a book you need to read to understand this government

Books by Gabriel Pogrund

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