A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024

'At a time when democracy feels threatened, Simon Kuper is fighting hard for a better vision of politics - he is brutally honest about our problems but never loses hope that we can build a better democracy' Rory Stewart

'An intelligible, compelling and enraging narrative ... how the Good Chaps get away with it' New Statesman

The 'Good Chaps' theory holds that those who rise to power in the UK can be trusted to follow the rules and do the right thing. They're good chaps, after all. Yet Britain appears to have been taken over by bad chaps, and politics is awash with financial scandals, donors who have practically bought shares in political parties, and a shameless contempt for the rules.

Simon Kuper, author of the Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller Chums, exposes how corruption took control of public life, and asks: how can we get politicians to behave like good chaps again?