‘An unctuous freak who generates his own publicity’ – a pair of spicy new memoirs will shake up politics on both sides of the Atlantic

Two new books drop the niceties and get stuck into our political leaders. What a relief, writes Phil Thomas

Republican John Boehner relives his battles with then-president Barack Obama (AFP/Getty)

Fans of the more scathing brand of political memoir should feel well catered for this month, with no-holds-barred reminiscences hitting the shelves either side of the Atlantic.

In the US, the former Republican speaker of the house, John Boehner, relives his battles with then-president Barack Obama in On The House, extracts of which have been released ahead of its publication on 13 April.

More intriguingly, he also recounts how he watched in horror as the GOP turned from the centre-right party he thought he knew into a conspiracy-driven, media-obsessed house of mirrors. Now free from any obligation to play nice with the power brokers in the party or right-wing media, Boehner drops the niceties and gets stuck in. And he has fun doing it.

Referring to the influx of Republican representatives elected in the 2010 mid-term “shellacking” handed to Obama, he recalls trying to give them helpful points on how to make the most of their newfound power. “Some of them, well, you could tell they weren’t paying attention because they were just thinking of how to fundraise off of outrage, or how they could get on [Sean] Hannity’s show that night.

“Ronald Reagan used to say something to the effect that if I get 80 or 90 per cent of what I want, that’s a win. These guys wanted 100 per cent every time. In fact, I don’t think that would satisfy them, because they didn’t really want legislative victories. They wanted wedge issues and conspiracies and crusades.”

Boehner says these newcomers believed his moderation made him as much of an enemy as Obama: “Me, a guy who had come to the top of the leadership by exposing corruption and pushing conservative ideas. Now I was a ‘liberal collaborator’. So that took some getting used to.”

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He describes how Fox News cottoned on to the power of conspiracy theories – in particular over the Benghazi attack, and Obama’s birth certificate. “Mark Levin was the first to go on the radio and spout off this crazy nonsense. It got him ratings, so eventually he dragged Hannity and Rush [Limbaugh] to Looneyville along with him.”

The former speaker, who eventually resigned in 2015 amid increasingly bitter divisions, saves particular scorn for the Texas senator he calls the “head lunatic” – Ted Cruz. It’s even reported that, while recording the audiobook for On The House, Boehner actually ad-libbed extra insults for Cruz, obviously feeling his literary barbs didn’t quite suffice: “Ted Cruz, go f*** yourself.”

In Britain meanwhile, Sir Alan Duncan, the former foreign office minister, is publishing his diaries, In The Thick Of It, on 15 April. Pre-released extracts find him pulverising his colleagues with spiteful glee.

Boris Johnson is “rambling” and “shameless”, a “clown” with no diplomacy skills, despite at the time of this character reference being foreign secretary, traditionally a job where diplomatic skills are considered useful. (Duncan does give him credit for his handling of the Skripal poisoning.) Gavin Williamson is “a self-serving little s***”; Andrea Jenkyns is “ghastly”; Andrea Leadsom is like “Sarah Palin on crack”; Priti Patel, a “wicked witch”.

Michael Gove seems to crop up a lot and Duncan doesn’t appear to think much of him: “Gove is an unctuous freak who generates his own publicity, a wacky weirdo who is both unappealing and untrustworthy. God help us if he is thought to be the answer to our woes.”

Both books are, of course, aiming to generate headlines with an eye to sales, although Boehner’s does seem to be a serious analysis, by a genuine big beast of US politics, of the alarming turn his party has taken in recent years. As a shocked world saw on 6 January, the problems generated by conspiracies and lies on the right threaten to undermine democracy itself.

Spiced as both books are with invective, mockery and scorn, this literary revenge of the centrists could inject some guilty pleasure into the discourse on the depressing state of our politics.

Yours,

Phil Thomas

Assistant editor (US)