Members Behaving Badly: A History of Britain in 52 Parliamentary Rogues

by Debbie Kilroy

 

An alternative history of Britain through the scandalous stories of 52 MPs who behaved very badly indeed…

'Funny, eye-opening and jaw-dropping.' CHARLIE HIGSON




Over the centuries, the House of Commons has been full of MPs standing up against tyranny; remarkable people doing remarkable things for the good of all. Yet there have been just as many cheats and liars who have played games, played the markets and played the people who put their trust in them.

Members Behaving Badly tells the story of our nation from 1603 to 1945 through 52 of these parliamentary abusers, kidnappers and murderers, violent men doing violent deeds, often using parliament as a front and excuse. These are the MPs who made history – for all the wrong reasons.

There's rake and poet Sir Charles Sedley, whose illicit partying while sozzled and stark naked on a tavern balcony caused a sensation even in Restoration London; the stock-jobbing, flip-flopping chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townshend, who proposed taxes that sparked a revolution; David Lloyd George, Britain's saviour during the First World War, but whose avarice, corruption and abuse of honours ruined his political party forever; and many more.

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'Thoroughly entertaining… Full of the woeful and riotous tales of the many men who have disgraced the benches of Westminster.' Jonathan Healey, author of The Blazing World

'Kilroy's storytelling is brimming with detail, sprinkled throughout with wit and humour.' Kate Vigurs, author of Mission France

'A riot of malfeasance and misbehaviour' Roger Moorhouse, author of Wolfpack

Genres: Nonfiction

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 19, 2026

About the author

Debbie Kilroy was imprisoned for drug trafficking in 1989 for 6 years. She was stabbed and witnessed the only murder inside an Australian women’s prison, and lost almost everything: her marriage, her home and her children. After her release in 1992, she established Sisters Inside, which advocates for the human rights of women in the criminal injustice system. Sisters Inside has won international acclaim for its work and for a unique structure which ensures it is driven by women inside prison.

Debbie was awarded the OAM for services to the community for working with women in prison 2003 and in 2004 she was awarded the National Human Rights Medal. She has a degree in social work and is a qualified gestalt therapist. Debbie was the first person in Australian who has serious convictions to be admitted by the Supreme Court of Queensland to practice law in 2007.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best type of non-fiction book. There is tons of great information in it, but it's so interesting that you don't feel like you are reading a textbook or something one of professors would assign as required reading. Not sure why they couldn't find interesting books or articles. Are textbooks dull as a rule, or are they just boring because you have to read them for school? I don't understand why, when history is so interesting, most only teach the boring bits to kids.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Netgalley ARC - What a fun read! There's something about reading about real history and the people who made sure they were remembered (even if that wasn't their plan). These are quick snippets of some of Britain's rogues without whom Britain wouldn't be Britain. Thorough research that makes them come alive again. Great for fans of Britain, behaving badly, and romps through time.

[Yvonne Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a thoroughly entertaining set of descriptions of some of the most disreputable men to become Members of Parliament from the early 17th century to the end of World War II - how they indulged their desires for wealth, power, and pleasure, often at the expense of less powerful and well-connected victims and often with no consequences.

The MPs described in each chapter tend to have similar vices, which makes for somewhat repetitive reading. In the 17th and 18th centuries, MPs were powerful and unaccountable enough to create conditions that they then proceeded to take advantage of, impoverishing many others in the process (although occasionally also impoverishing themselves and each other). As time went on and laws were passed to curtail the worst of these abuses, they found other, less overt ways to game the system. Some of them, particularly in the morally repressive Victorian era, went to hilarious lengths to satisfy their extramarital needs.

The book is obviously well researched and has some useful endnotes and bibliography. Would definitely recommend it. Many thanks to NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson for providing a pre-publication copy for review.

[Tob Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of Members Behaving Badly: A History of Britain in 52 Parliamentary Rogues, and it completely caught me off guard in the best way. Instead of feeling like a grand lecture about politics, it feels like someone has handed you the best bits of the archive and said, “You won’t believe what this lot got up to.”

What I loved is how quickly it gets you invested in each character. You meet them, you get the context, and then, before you know it, you are shaking your head at whatever ridiculous, shady, or downright naughty thing they have done next. It is witty without trying too hard, properly researched without ever showing off, and it makes Parliament feel less like a grand building and more like a room full of real people, with real egos, real appetites, and occasionally appalling judgement.

If you like your history sharp, lively, and a bit cheeky, this one is dangerously easy to fly through.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Gawd!! And we think we’ve got a sorry lot of MPs in Parliament today? This lot of “members behaving badly” put ours to shame quite frankly. It’s astonishing the sense of entitlement, thirst for power and obsession with titles and self-importance that reigned all that time ago. It is also interesting, and the author notes in his conclusion, the lack of female members behaving badly and as they point out, they took the role more seriously and placed more value on it. Some might say that rings true to this day too, though we have had some howlers in charge.

I found it a very thorough and detailed account but also very graphic and quite intense, and I love crime thrillers so I’m no wallflower. I’d give this 3.5 stars I think, though it was an enlightening read.

Thanks again to the publisher and NetGalley again for this advance copy.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this - such a unique take on parliamentary behaviour! several of the stories i'd not heard before and the ones I had gave a different viewpoint plus I gained a lot of context from the book I might not have otherwise had. I would recommend to anyone who thinks bad political behaviour is a new phenomenon this will prove you wrong! I enjoyed the humour of the book too.