Ungovernable

The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip

By: Simon Hart

Narrated by: Simon Hart

A glimpse at life behind the closed doors of Westminster, written and read by former chief whip Simon Hart.

'A remarkable insight into a critical moment. Hart’s wit and tolerance makes his record of a system in crisis all the more convincing and troubling' – Rory Stewart, author of Politics On the Edge

From Partygate to Brexit, over the course of five years, Simon Hart had a front-row seat to the most turbulent times in recent political history. Lifting the lid on the British Government, Ungovernable is the first insider account of life as chief whip.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, Brexit negotiations, and Liz Truss’s extraordinary forty-nine-day premiership – Simon Hart's seen and heard it all. And starting in 2022, under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he witnessed successive dramas unfold, all while holding down the (often misunderstood) position of chief whip.

Astonishingly, during those whip years, Simon oversaw a near record fifteen Conservative MPs fall by the wayside. Three of these were resignations, including Nadine Dorries and the scandal of her disappearing peerage; two were defections to Labour; and the remaining ten were suspended by Simon for offences ranging from Matt Hancock’s unauthorised appearance on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here to Lee Anderson’s comments about the London Mayor. Each one of these involved an extensive build-up, a complicated process, and a noisy and vitriolic public commentary.

None of this stopped him from becoming one of the few chief whips – of which there have been eleven since 2010 in fourteen consecutive years – to survive for an entire premiership.

In a first-of-its-kind extraordinary look at life as a chief whip, Ungovernable is a revealing, real-time, blow-by-blow account – offering a glimpse of what truly goes on in Westminster behind closed doors.

Critic reviews

A remarkable insight into a critical moment. Hart’s wit and tolerance makes his record of a system in crisis all the more convincing and troubling (Rory Stewart)

He is the insiders’ insider and shows how Government works – or actually doesn’t. This is a balls-up-to-break-down account of how the Tories managed to get through multiple Prime Ministers and a large majority to fall flat on their faces. You couldn’t make it up (Michael Dobbs, author of House of Cards)

Highly readable . . . Hart has a brilliant eye for moments of high farce

Simon Hart is a secret masochist – writing a diary every night after a punishing day as Chief Whip. But the result of his labours are a joy. Engrossing, entertaining, poignant and, at times, so funny I was laughing out loud. The Whips’ Office, he says, is a "field hospital" for his colleagues. Some hospital, some colleagues. Politics in the raw, and all the better for it (RT Hon Jack Straw)

Extraordinary (Jon Sopel, on The News Agents podcast)

Completely wild (George Osborne, on the Political Currency: EMQs podcast)

Hilarious (Libby Purves, via X/Twitter)

Spiky (David Smith, The Times)

One of the raciest political diaries of recent years (Financial Times’ Best Books of 2025: Politics)

Simon Hart offers up diaries from the Johnson-Truss years that make the Marquis de Sade read like Hans Christian Andersen (Guardian, Best History and Politics Books of 2025)