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The Minister
by Maurice Edelman (2 March 1911 – 14 December 1975) was a British Labour Party politician and novelist who represented Coventry constituencies in the House of Commons for over 30 years.
223 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
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About the author
Maurice Edelman
27 books2 followersThe son of Eastern European emigrants who came to Britain to escape the pogroms, Maurice Edelman was educated at Cardiff High School and Trinity College, Cambridge. After a career in the plywood industry and time as a journalist during the Second World War, Edelman won election to Parliament in 1945 as a Labour candidate for Coventry West. During his time in Parliament he was a vice-chairman of the British Council and chairman of the Franco-British Parliamentary Relations Committee.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 15, 2021
Published in 1961, this is a novel about people, power, influence, intrigue - as well as politics. It is based around the principal character Geoffrey Melville - and his arch nemises, The Rt. Hon Gerald Ormston, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and shadow front bench counterpart Alfred Yates, a novel that takes you on a rollercoaster of mid-twentieth century British political life. I have to admit that my reason to read 'The Minister' (after nearly 60 years) was because Edelman named my father as one of his cast of political characters. However, my reason to persist (after page 46) was down to a well-written pacey and riveting story line, and the fact that life and politics change little over the years. The upshot was the realisation that hidden by the passage of time, there must be a plethora of great writers like Edelman with fascinating novels like this one that are now overlooked.
October 13, 2017
A friend loaned me this: it comes from a stock of Penguins his father has offloaded on him. It was published in 1961 by a writer I have never heard of, but whom I will now be looking out for. (I can't resist the Churchillian irritant alternative - 'out for whom I will be looking'.)
I found this a very readable novel about a politician, Geoffrey Melville, weathering both political and personal storms with varying degrees of success. The portrait is not flattering, but neither, I think, does it deliver a killer punch per se, except in so far as I was left thinking of Mark 8:36 - 'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' This response was prompted largely by Melville's inability - certainly his absolute refusal - to forgive his wife for a sexual infidelity, in spite of her genuine contrition over something long ago and long forgotten though only recently discovered by her husband. (I was reminded of Angel Clare and Tess Durbeyfield, though Edelman leaves us with the prospect of his minister and his wife living in painful cohabitation, without any intimation that a reconciliation - or a murder and execution! - is likely.)
Yet, like Angel Clare, the minister is not without a plank or two in his own eye, not only on the private level, but more significantly on the political. Early in the first chapter a casual racist remark made to a woman whose reputation for indiscretion should have made Melville more wary leads to the unfolding drama of the whole novel. Edelman shows us the processes by which blame can so cannily be evaded and political reputation that ought justly to have been ruined, retained by a skilled operator.
The opposition is not any better presented, its leader, Newman, principled but unforceful and his Deputy, Yates, another philanderer. Yates, although a canny Westminster wangler himself, cannot crack Melville during the key debate on the Africa question that pervades the story. And this is a result of a dramatic last minute announcement engineered by the Primeminister who, though ill and out of the hurlyburly of the House, is not actually hors de combat. He himself is an interesting character too, who, though he appears statesmanlike, proves himself perfectly capable and willing to fiddle things both to produce an acceptable political outcome and, perhaps more importantly to him, to secure the reputation and survival of his party.
The quality of the prose in this novel is delightful. Edelman writes with lucidity, a nice eye for detail, and a sure understanding of human behaviour. I very much liked the extensive use of dialogue in which things are both said plainly and understood, and in which personalities that clash avoid open conflict and try to manoeuvre to their own advantage. I do not know the extent to which the novel is an accurate representation of Westminster, but for me Edelman certainly created a sense of 'the bubble' that journalists currently portray our politicians inhabiting. Whether or not he might have been more effective had he been more judgmental in this portrayal, I'm not sure. I think, had he been, I might have had a go at him for ranting or being too prejudiced, so he's probably played it right by leaving the ball in my court.
I found this a very readable novel about a politician, Geoffrey Melville, weathering both political and personal storms with varying degrees of success. The portrait is not flattering, but neither, I think, does it deliver a killer punch per se, except in so far as I was left thinking of Mark 8:36 - 'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' This response was prompted largely by Melville's inability - certainly his absolute refusal - to forgive his wife for a sexual infidelity, in spite of her genuine contrition over something long ago and long forgotten though only recently discovered by her husband. (I was reminded of Angel Clare and Tess Durbeyfield, though Edelman leaves us with the prospect of his minister and his wife living in painful cohabitation, without any intimation that a reconciliation - or a murder and execution! - is likely.)
Yet, like Angel Clare, the minister is not without a plank or two in his own eye, not only on the private level, but more significantly on the political. Early in the first chapter a casual racist remark made to a woman whose reputation for indiscretion should have made Melville more wary leads to the unfolding drama of the whole novel. Edelman shows us the processes by which blame can so cannily be evaded and political reputation that ought justly to have been ruined, retained by a skilled operator.
The opposition is not any better presented, its leader, Newman, principled but unforceful and his Deputy, Yates, another philanderer. Yates, although a canny Westminster wangler himself, cannot crack Melville during the key debate on the Africa question that pervades the story. And this is a result of a dramatic last minute announcement engineered by the Primeminister who, though ill and out of the hurlyburly of the House, is not actually hors de combat. He himself is an interesting character too, who, though he appears statesmanlike, proves himself perfectly capable and willing to fiddle things both to produce an acceptable political outcome and, perhaps more importantly to him, to secure the reputation and survival of his party.
The quality of the prose in this novel is delightful. Edelman writes with lucidity, a nice eye for detail, and a sure understanding of human behaviour. I very much liked the extensive use of dialogue in which things are both said plainly and understood, and in which personalities that clash avoid open conflict and try to manoeuvre to their own advantage. I do not know the extent to which the novel is an accurate representation of Westminster, but for me Edelman certainly created a sense of 'the bubble' that journalists currently portray our politicians inhabiting. Whether or not he might have been more effective had he been more judgmental in this portrayal, I'm not sure. I think, had he been, I might have had a go at him for ranting or being too prejudiced, so he's probably played it right by leaving the ball in my court.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2025
Edelman was a Labour MP for Coventry from 1945 until…well this 1960 Penguin author blurb states he is currently, so through the early 1960s at least. As this was the period of the audacious brave rebuilding of the cathedral following WW2 bombing, I admire him already for his part in that. This is a tale of said Minister navigating power plays, a dying PM, martial problems, Westminster gossip and intrigue. It’s good though, this is no Edwina Currie territory.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews