- Hardcover: 200 pages
- Publisher: Biteback (18 Sep 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1849540071
- ISBN-13: 978-1849540070
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.6 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 65,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Mark Oaten is a politician of nearly 13 years standing, having famously won the seat of Winchester in 1997 with a majority of only two, though a by-election later returned him with a majority of 20,000. More famously, he hit the headlines in January 2006 when, shortly after announcing his withdrawal from the race to succeed Charles Kennedy as leader of the Lib Dems, Oaten was caught up in the biggest political scandal of the year as the News of the World published the story of his relations with a rent boy. His world collapsed. This is the story of a man obsessed by retaining his youth, fearful of turning 40 and feeling a complete failure. It s the story of coping with media scandal, and of how he and his wife Belinda managed to save their marriage, as well as his own recent decision to leave politics for the unknown. Whilst offering a fascinating insight into the working life of a constituency MP, Screwing Up is not a political memoir but the deeply touching and human story of a man at his wits end, trying to cope with the onset of middle age.
About the Author
Mark Oaten is the Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester, though he will be leaving Parliament at the next election. For two years he was Shadow Home Affairs spokeman for the LibDems, and was briefly a candidate for the leadership of the party in early 2006. He lives with his wife Belinda and their two children in Hampshire.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
(Almost) the ordinary life of a British MP - a well-written snapshot of triumph and disaster
15 Nov 2009
Format:Hardcover
This is the well-written autobiography of Mark Oaten, the Member of Parliament for Winchester, who is stepping down at the 2010 election.
The book is, in many ways, a standard tale of the struggle to get elected, the triumphs and disasters of political battling and the relentless day to day grind of British political life. However, hanging over the whole narrative is Mark Oaten's spectacular fall from grace when he tried to run for leadership of the Liberal Democrats.
Those looking for a sordid tell-all tale will be disappointed, as there are no graphic details here. The tabloids and the blogs set those out, although Oaten claims that much of the coverage was just lurid suggestions, repeated endlessly as if it were fact. To do him justice, he does not gloss over the incident, and the pain of the days and weeks following the revelations is clearly and uncompromisingly laid out.
This is a thoughtful piece, in which he reflects on both his personal experience and his view of MPs generally. Lets hope that an audience drawn to the book be curiosity about one of the most colourful incidents of this parliament, then do read the observations on what is wrong with politics and how it might be done better.
If you are interested in British politics and its (very) human participants, this is an excellent read.
The book is, in many ways, a standard tale of the struggle to get elected, the triumphs and disasters of political battling and the relentless day to day grind of British political life. However, hanging over the whole narrative is Mark Oaten's spectacular fall from grace when he tried to run for leadership of the Liberal Democrats.
Those looking for a sordid tell-all tale will be disappointed, as there are no graphic details here. The tabloids and the blogs set those out, although Oaten claims that much of the coverage was just lurid suggestions, repeated endlessly as if it were fact. To do him justice, he does not gloss over the incident, and the pain of the days and weeks following the revelations is clearly and uncompromisingly laid out.
This is a thoughtful piece, in which he reflects on both his personal experience and his view of MPs generally. Lets hope that an audience drawn to the book be curiosity about one of the most colourful incidents of this parliament, then do read the observations on what is wrong with politics and how it might be done better.
If you are interested in British politics and its (very) human participants, this is an excellent read.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I thought this was a really good account of the pressure and media scrutiny an MP is subjected to. Oaten comes accross as a brave man who openly admits his mistakes and errors in judgement and tries to face up to them the best he can.
Its an enjoyable easy read and very funny in places, and he gives a real sense of life in the pressure cooker that is the Westminster bubble.
Its an enjoyable easy read and very funny in places, and he gives a real sense of life in the pressure cooker that is the Westminster bubble.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a strange little book. With the recent furore over MP's expenses and the Lib Dem conference, it amounts to a shrewd piece of timing on the part of Mr Oaten, but my reading of it would suggest that he has missed an opportunity to write a compelling account of one MPs "lapses" and all too human decline into debauchery. Yes, he is strong on the particular pressures which operate on MPs and perhaps make these kind of walks on the wild side more likely amongst politicians than the rest of us, and he provides some insight into that most cliched of territories the male mid life crisis, but his is too self absorbed an account to be a satisfying and enlightening read.It is ultimately a sad account of someone still struggling to work out who he is. There is little uplift here and still less redemption.
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