Ungovernable: The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip

by Simon Hart

For five turbulent years, Simon Hart sat at the epicentre of recent British politics. He observed first-hand the rising and rapid unravelling of tensions in Westminster, from fraught Brexit negotiations to Liz Truss's fleeting premiership and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also oversaw a near-record fifteen Conservative MPs fall by the wayside. These events revealed the unstable relationships , rivalries and egos driving such upheaval. Yet, under Rishi Sunak, amid the chaos and uncertainty, Hart emerged as one of the rare Chief Whips to survive an entire premiership.

Ungovernable presents an unprecedented insider's chronicle of power and politics plotted behind closed doors and played out on the nation's stage. This is a real-time diary that defines what really happens within modern British politics, and why it matters to us all.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, Memoir, History, Diary

355 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2025

Reviews

[Scott Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting in parts, but a thoroughly unlikeable and bitter man.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed this political book charting events and background of the last Parliament of the Conservative government

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

If these were my diaries I wouldn't want them published

[Jamad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simon Hart’s Ungovernable offers an insider’s account of the chaos and dysfunction of recent Conservative governments, with plenty of revealing anecdotes along the way.

However, the first part of the book, covering Hart’s time as Secretary of State for Wales, is somewhat pedestrian. His account lacks the sharpness and insight of later chapters, reading more like a routine ministerial diary than a gripping political memoir. When he moves on to the later years of Conservative rule—particularly the Johnson and Truss administrations—the book becomes much livelier, though also more self-serving.

One of its weaker points is Hart’s tendency to fall back on tired clichés. The predictable jabs at Labour’s supposed lack of humour and the usual complaints about “lefties” disliking this or that feel stale rather than incisive. This sort of commentary adds little to the book and makes it feel at times like a predictable exercise in political score-settling.

Hart also comes across as entitled, with an overabundance of references to meals at exclusive restaurants and political gossip exchanged over fine dining. While some of these details might help illustrate the culture of Westminster, their frequency gives the impression of a politician too caught up in the perks of office.

Overall, Ungovernable is an interesting but flawed memoir. It offers an entertaining window into the dysfunction of recent governments but is weighed down by its author’s predictable partisan jabs and a tone that sometimes veers into self-congratulation.

“The problem with the hard left, and the hard right for that matter, is they always believe that the voters are stupid, or deaf, and that any future success is dependent on just shouting the same message, only louder.”

“PMQs was bleak. The PM offered what was a sort of minimalist apology but his excuse – he thought the party at the centre of the current revelations was a ‘work event’ – was greeted with guffaws from the other side, the worst kind of response possible. We have moved from anger to ridicule. Our side sat in stony silence, whilst the opposition could barely contain their joy. They hate Boris more than they hate most of our leaders. For a start they can’t understand how a raffish Old Etonian can possibly be popular. The ‘Labour user’s manual’ instructs people to hate anyone who went to public school (except their own), increasing the resentment if the guilty party is also clever and funny. ”

“Oh dear. It emerges my good friend Neil Parish [Tiverton and Honiton] is the MP caught looking at porn in the Chamber. His twenty-three years as an MEP and MP go up in smoke in an instant.
The press has gone nuts and is much more fixated with this than they are with Putin. Labour and Lib Dems are (as ever) brimming with indignation and synthetic outrage, calling for his head. They seem oblivious to the process Parliament has set up to give everyone a fair hearing and to deal with these things ‘in the cold light of day’. They also conveniently forget the numerous occasions on which some of their people have been caught in similarly tricky positions.”

“This is probably the biggest moment of change the country will witness for a very long time and will define our politics for a while too. When everything else seems so unpredictable, the presence of the Queen, even to those sceptical about the monarchy, provided a sense of security.”

[Ben Baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

A hateful, bitter book by a bitter, clueless man. How dare we not support Boris in his lies and bluster? Oh wait....he's gone....now sweet Rishi is the golden boy....this country doesnt know whats good for it blah blah blah. I wanted to hear a take from the inside but I loathed this and only got to the end through sheer bloody mindedness.

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 2 out of 5]

RTC

[Jacob Stelling · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting in that it provided an insight into a turbulent period in British politics, but otherwise offered little new insight or perspective.

The most interesting parts were Hart’s accounts of his time as Chief Whip, but even here we didn’t get many genuine titbits or gossip around key decisions or political personalities. I also felt uncomfortable at times reading his accounts of sexual harassment scandals, where it often felt as though he had more sympathy for the men accused than their victims.

Overall not a bad diary collection but anyone hoping for dramatic revelations will be disappointed.

[Rufus Liverman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takes a really long time to actually get going, somewhere in the middle is very good with Hart showing the entitlement of mps that expect peerages but Simon Hart is just abit out of touch some of the things like (Sunaks trans gender comments when the family of murder trans gender women was in the audience ) that he just brushes off which is very annoying. Also his idea of what a good PMQs is, Starmer destroyed sunak and truss many times but he doesn’t acknowledge this. Overall not a bad book but I was glad to finish it

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts quietly but soon becomes the no-holds-barred account promised, though the little censoring there is and the huge cast (mostly of minor Tory miscreants) makes it feel scattershot as a portrait of the time. It's more an impression of a strange sort of job: holding together a government without answering whether you should.

The only comparison I have is with the equivalent book by Rory Stewart (who makes a cameo near the end of this book). Rory's was all about the struggle to achieve the right change despite politics; this is all about avoiding political change (keeping Sunak in power) irrespective of the effect on real people. Some discussion of that would have gone a long way here.

[Kenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun. Insightful at times. A lot less dirt, even within the bounds of defamation law, than I imagine a chief whip’s book could have.

[Kelly Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cannot cope with how bad this is

[Tom Ricketts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 11 of 2025.

Simon Hart is strongly opinionated throughout which is refreshing at times and I often found myself agreeing with his assessments of political drama and selfishness in the government. Hart provides an open and insightful account of his time as Chief whip (more interesting than his section as SoS for Wales) ensuring it was a good read. Arguably the most exceptional element of the work is Hart’s humanisation of the individuals he worked closely with (and liked hence choosing to show their good side) which is most obvious in the case of Rishi spending 40 minutes with a young girl weeks before she died of brain cancer. Anecdotes like this show the human side of politicians regardless of whether they are on the right and left and needs promoting more in a world where politicians are ridiculed and derided to an extent few other careers (if any) receive.

However at times the Hart can come across as overly opinionated and consistently disregarded Labour opposition leaving some of his views quite predictable by the end of the work. Starmer and Rayner are derided as characteristically poor in their performance in Parliament every time it they are mentioned and hence Hart demonstrates the single mindedness he accuses the left of. Whilst the position of Chief Whip seemed to suit Hart and the insights were fascinating I got the impression he did not enjoy and was potentially not a good fit for the SoS of Wales job as he treated welsh affairs more as an inconvenience than his driving political passion.

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly very interesting and enlightening, nevertheless I find it hard to assess this book objectively because of its nature. Hart writes in a generally very candid manner about his years as MP, Secretary of State for Wales, and Chief Whip for the Conservatives - and in doing so offers a real insight into the nature of parliamentary and political life in the UK over what was an eventful period between late 2019 and mid 2024.

The book however is an adapted diary. This offers immediacy and honesty (notwithstanding I assume it is a selective diary and may have been amended retrospectively in places) but does also make for a read that is fairly repetitive, acronym heavy, and in places more bitchy than might be seen in a 'proper' memoir. I also found it slightly demoralising, despite probably agreeing with many of Hart's politics. It left me wondering about the inefficiency of the parliamentary process and civil service, all these meetings and discussions, pointless traditions, barriers to anything getting done, popularity contests as opposed to rational choices etc.

[Stephen Fay]

DNF at 20%, not gonna. I don't think this book is of much interest to anyone who's not a politician or in the UK. It assumes the reader has too much context. Even for me and I lived through this time, and have relatives in UK. I guess I should have seen that coming.

[William Longthorp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some surprisingly accessible notes of one of the closest insiders of one of the most chaotic governments we've ever seen. No doubt it was a good book, but to be honest I think a lot of people came to it to hear, how would you say it, the hot gossip? Sadly to be fair, I wonder if there was as much. The 3 general conclusions I pulled from this book is that Suella Braverman is mental (who knew?!), Liz Truss is just plain weird (who knew?!) and a rather apt description of how Jacob Rees-Mogg is meant to be an insufferable, but somehow still has his fans, which was relatively interesting.

I also wasn't the biggest fan of how a lot of the scandals all seem to have been brushed off as 'mind y0ur own business'. For example, his notes on Matt Hancock having an affair with his secretary outside Covid guidelines, he essentially stated that 'it was a stupid mistake, I feel sympathy towards him, all the public has broken the Covid rules at some point, don't see how he's any different'. Firstly, it's different because he's the one literally enforcing these rules, and so running off and not obeying them while the whole country rots inside, and secondly he's a representative of this country, Simon, not just a random bloke off the street; he failed to act with honour, and so should be fired, it is our business to know.

In short, while I liked this book and found it a surprisingly easy read fr0m a Tory perspective, I could perhaps see from a perspective that Mr Hart isn't the most likeable.

[Martin Dubéci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nečitateľný edit, zápisky, fragmenty.
Veľmi zaujímavé ak ste práve predseda nejakého poslaneckého klubu, alebo **detailne** UK politiku.

Opäť sa mi však potvrdzuje moja hypotéza: všetky parlamenty sú desivo podobné.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

*AUDIO BOOK*

Super interesting insight into all of the messy machinations of no.10 and Westminster — but my GOD what a shitshow! has definitely destroyed any optimistic shred of faith in HM government…

[Leon Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly accessible read in two distinct parts: the first, covering the authors times as Secretary of State for Wales is a little pedestrian, the second covering his time as Chief Whip much more engaging.

The book really does highlight the tiredness that eventually captures all governments but shows the fundamental decency of those around Rishi Sunak in his period of high office and has one of two laugh out loud passages.

Well worth a read for any political anorak.

[Gurpal Cheema · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book to read! shout out to AM for letting me borrow it

[Susan Ingledew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed reading the diaries, it was an easy read and close enough to the events described to feel relevant, not sure it will really stand the test of time. Several themes stood out to me. He came across as pretty pompous, as did many other figures who all seemed to feel entitled to be in government rather than having any particular talent for it. I was shocked at how many of the MPs mentioned were clearly unfit for office but still ended up with power in cabinet. Lots of drama and shady scandal, a real old boys network. He even alluded to some of his female colleagues only being offered jobs in order to fill some sort of quota.

If the Tories were using creative ways of forcing votes through he seemed to view this as clever, if the opposition did the same it was a case of typical bitter lefties. He seemed to have little sense about why they lost the election and powerless to do anything about it, they were exhausted and out of ideas

Lots of booze, cosy dinners and shooting weekends. Talks about 'lackeys' on several occasions, made my skin crawl a bit. He also mentioned many lobby journalists by name, all socialising together hoping for gossip and scandal. Made the government sound like a cross between Eton and Hogwarts with vultures circling ahead

I was slowed down a little as I often stopped to look at what some of the characters were doing now, many really do not come out of this well and it seems a bit tragic, quite brutal for some of them. Overall I found it an enjoyable if grubby read. Reminded that although many of the MPs were bruised by the experience most of the journalists mentioned are left in jobs, moved on to the next load of gossip I guess.

[Jerry Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want a refresher about the 2019-2024 bit of the last Tory government from the perspective of a moderately senior MP, this is your book. If you also want to get a clear picture as to how that government went from large majority to abject defeat in such a short time, the answer is also here.
In these pages you will find a selection of politicians whose entire interest is themselves. Their alliances, their promotions, their image in the press, their position in the political world. There are barely any mentions of constituents or the wider public who are impacted by the work MP’s do.
These people literally live in the so-called Westminster bubble. Here’s a classic example;
‘In a packed Pugin room for a drink with Therese Coffey about hunting trophies. It’s by far the best drinking hole in Parliament. …. we are treated like long-standing guardians of a decent members club, which I suppose we are. … All human life passes through here daily’
The author clearly has a highly rarified view of what constitutes ‘all human life.’

[Phil Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an outstanding book this is! Political diaries are often about policies and politics, this one is majors on the people: MPs, special advisors and the media. It's really a book of two parts; part one covers the author's time as Secretary of State for Wales, in Boris Johnson's cabinet; part two is as Chief Whip under Rishi Sunak. Both offer a vivid and sometimes alarming insight into the inner workings of government; the liars, the leakers and the decent, hardworking MPs among them. Hart is not afraid to call a spade a spade, naming MPs described as "an utter knob" and "once a shit, always a shit." His diaries record his views of Cabinet Ministers, members of the Opposition, well known journalists and a myriad of others trying to climb the greasy pole for career advancement, honours or just because of their ego. It's written in an easy style so is not a taxing read. I could not not put it down.
One note - the footnotes in the text are all collated at the end of the book in the Kindle edition, so you will need some toing and froing.

[Alex Mann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saved from one star because there is some interesting stuff about the role of the whips at the end but this is a slog. The author is very unlikeable - even as someone who voted Tory in 2019, he is perfect and everyone else is wrong, with many insults and jibes that are gratuitous and stereotyping. I know these are diaries so you show a bit of grace, but he chose to publish them. For the most part just superficial commentary on the events of the day rather than too much genuine insight. Also makes me wonder how much of our money is being spent on food in fancy restaurants. Maybe journalists and special interests pay. Anyway, skip it, this book has nothing substantial and will be forgotten very quickly.

[Corinne Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read up to page 200.

This guy was unbelievably arrogant and it made the diary unreadable. He thought partygate was made too big a deal of, compared the chief whip to a field medic (when he was in it, as if his job wasn’t cleaning up scandals) and talked down the left continuously and even attributed the rise in offensive discourse and violence to them with zero evidence.

The entitlement was unreal. And he ‘watched the conservative party’ as if he didn’t contribute to the sleaze and mess with his journo dinners and enabling sleaze, which he confesses when he talks about extracting an MP who was in a brothel without any money and called the Whip at 4am.

Also he said this was for his kids - but told stories like ‘oh btw my mate watched porn in the commons’. I found that weird!

[Rosie Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part I enjoyed this book. The self serving and self entitled nature of not only the party, but also the author (seemingly only partially self aware of this), provided a clear insightful to into the party psyche. I was partially frustrated during his time as Secretary of State for Wales where I felt he seemed uninterested in fighting for the interests of the people he should be serving. However, that theme ran through the entire book. The second half of the book was better and gave an interesting account of life in government. It didn’t move mountains, but it did keep me entertained.

[Eddie Lees · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shines at several levels.
First, for we members of the voting public in any democracy, Simon Hart candidly reveals the dark underbelly of many who, once elected, reveal their true natures; we confront naked self-promotion, shallowness, and betrayal.
Second, we get a clear picture of how democracy really works … and how the political sausage is made; it’s not pretty.
Third we are treated to exceptionally good writing - this is a page turner.
Fourth, we are exposed to the realistic art of the possible - fascinating.
Finally, we see through the author’s eyes, history being made; and what a messy process it is.
Highly recommended … a book to dip into for insights on every page.

[Megan Pearson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always like to try and find the positives in the books I read, but instead I have come away with my anxieties confirmed of how terribly our government is ran. I always thought the media often dramatised the issue at hand, but not anymore. The problem lies in lobbying, ‘building relationships’ (aka dining at private members clubs every evening), and the party putting themselves first rather than the country. The entire culture of government has to change. People spend more time socialising than working, gossip is given precedence over everything, and there appears to be zero ethical standards. It’s horrifying.

[Dan Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simon Hart is a bit like Greek yoghurt; a bit sour and painfully thick.

Typical diaries of a Tory with 0 self awareness. What I find astonishing is all of Simon’s criticisms seemed to fall upon liberals , leftists, Labour and George Galloway etc. rather than looking inwards to the failings of his own government and the various seedy things his ministers were getting up to.

2 stars as it was an interesting read to hear about the inner workings of government at the time and because some of the anecdotes ( usually about BJ or Rees Mogg) amused me although Simon himself is about as funny as a fart in a spacesuit.

[Malcolm Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t know much about Simon Hart and on evidence of these diaries I don’t think I’d hav3 much time for him as a politician.Remarkable how universally he slates and despises anyone with left of centre views.However I do enjoy political diaries with gossip and insight into to an especially turbulent time in British politics and he is a good readable chronicler who doesn’t waste words .Definitely worth a read whatever your political views are and may become more valuable for historians in future who may be charting huge changes in the p9litical landscape as a result of events described in this book

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasional glimpses of internal workings of the Mother of Parliaments give this book some value- but the author emerges as a shallow personality with a limited grasp of language (a strongly marked dependence on juvenile lavatorial expression), and so many suspiciously post hoc “judgements” - I mean, asides which seem to have been added in order to show that he always knew at the time when someone or something was probably wrong!
I accidentally rated this as 3 stars when in fact 2 would have been generous.