The Bonfire of the Insanities: How Does This Government Thing Work Again?

by John Crace

A new serving of satire from bestselling author and beloved Guardian columnist John Crace.

'I lap up everything John Crace writes I love his cleverness, his wit, and his heart.' NIGELLA LAWSON

It ended as it began. With Downing Street under grey leaden skies. Someone's idea of a cosmic joke. Only this time the rain had eased to a light drizzle rather than a torrential downpour. If you're a Tory, you take your blessings where you find them on days like these.

After fourteen years of Tory rule, John Crace has seen it a bucket-load of sleaze and scandals, myriad questionable policy decisions, and an ever-revolving door of impressive* candidates trying to get themselves to the top of a sinking ship.

With a bumpy start, Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and the Labour Party have taken the reins while Kemi Badenoch and the Tories slink off to regroup in opposition. Many proclaim that the United Kingdom's political landscape has changed - but are those fabled sunlit uplands finally in view? Selected from Crace's much-loved Guardian column, The Bonfire of the Insanities lights up a new chapter of governmental absurdity with mordant wit and caustic humour.

(*terms and conditions apply)

Genres: Politics, Humor

322 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 4, 2025

Reviews

[Ken Sampson · Rating 3 out of 5]

[20 Mar 2026 Hardback] This is a collection of the weekly political columns of John Crace from the Guardian newspaper. From the dying days of the Rushi Sunak conservative government, through the general election and the first year or so of the labour government, so from about late 2023 to mid 2025. He writes with pace and wit and it is an easy read, but obviously always with an eye to affirming the left leaning paradigm of his readership. He predictably rages against 'the tories,' 'austerity,' and 'Brexit' - his readers nodding sagely along one images. However in contrast with other political sketch writers, but one suspects in common with the left he is unnecessarily rude and personal. Is it really necessary to call people who hold different views to your own cockroaches? He appears to label most tories as 'thick, handicapped, or stupid.' This distracts from the points of political practice he is making. It is amusing as - unbeknown to him at the time - the labour government would be spectacularly inept and generally regarded by its supporters as incompetent.

It is an amusing read - even if there is no attempt at balance and a real lingering preoccupation with polarising opinion and sectarianism. He fails to see his own contradictions - calling for a second Brexit referendum as the people 'voted to make themselves poorer' as they 'were lied to' etc - while being incredulous that two million people had the nerve to ask for another general election in light of labour's incompetence - because Starmer needed more time to make things happen.

He 'hates' tories - presumably all of them and he 'hates' Reform UK and Brexit and people who voted for it - all 17 million I'm guessing and Trump and anywhere outside of London. All the usual left wing anger is here - however in the later part of the book - when labour's U-turns on policy start to emerge thick and fast he adopts a slightly more subtle approach. It can't be much fun being a left-wing political commentator working for a left-wing newspaper when even your readers accept the left-wing government is even more stupid and incompetent that the 'Tories.'

[Phil Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect summary of the chaos of the last few years, which must have been the answer to a political sketch-writer's prayers. And it doesn't even get up to the Peter Mandelson's story yet! I feel there's a volume two coming soon!