The Diary of a Secret Tory MP: (Almost!) True Stories from the Heart of British Politics

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As his personal training business grew, he was working at a gym with two friends who “were also reformed characters; they’d been in even more scrapes than I had when I was younger. And we had these baronesses, lords and millionaires coming in and out, really getting off on talking to people with accents. I kept thinking: ‘You’re sitting in the House of Lords and I can run rings around you in an argument if I have to.’ I was just so underwhelmed.” Satire is not supposed to be comfortable reading, and although this book is highly entertaining and made me laugh it does make one think too. It’s probably easier reading, and easier to laugh, if you are a left of centre reader but the book still makes one think about the state of politics and wonder why the British electorate has let this lot run the country. I look forward to the day when a Labour government at Westminster gets a similar treatment though that seems quite a while away. But there are many Conservative voters who might read this book and ponder where it all went wrong. Such an excoriating account would have been difficult to write even in the Cameron days, let alone the Major days. The author, whoever he or she is (I’d guess it’s a he), has a grasp of some of the issues close to the heart of this blog. There is a wholly satirical account of grouse shooting and even a lord called Botham gets a short walk on part and exits after putting his foot in his mouth. How often does carbofuran get a mention in a book about the political world? Morris, 40, grew up in Yorkshire, his mother a teacher, his father an archaeologist. “My dad is very clever, he has a lot of varied interests, both my parents have, which they seem to have passed on to me.” His father persuaded him to play Fleance in Macbeth when he was 12 with Abbey Shakespeare Players, technically an am-dram company but more of a hyper-literary cult, which introduced him to St Dogmaels Abbey in Wales, where the company stages its annual performance. He now lives in a Welsh valley that, according to folklore, is the entrance to the underworld. “It’s paradise,” he says. The 2019 Conservative MPs are mean-spirited, largely stupid and, as far as I can tell, firing up the shredders before they get booted out at the next election Even funnier than the actions of the current Cabinet, and that's saying something. A landslide victory for modern satire.’ – Caitlin Moran

Henry Morris is a personal trainer and rave promoter, and author of the infamous Diary of a Secret Tory MP. He lives in Frogmore Cottage. The Diary of a Secret Tory MP: private dodgy dispatches from the heart of Westminster by Anon is published by Harper Collins. Everyone seems to be preoccupied with my mullet’ … Morris at his home in Wales. Photograph: Joann Randles/The Guardian Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse. The video revealing Morris’s identity features parodies of Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg, among other Conservative figures.We had these baronesses, lords and millionaires coming in to the gym where I was a personal trainer. I was just so underwhelmed’ … Morris in his home gym. Photograph: Joann Randles/The Guardian

Scabrous, scurrilous, hilarious and frighteningly plausible . Political satire at its blistering, biting best.’ – James O’Brien