A Life and a Half

The Unexpected Making of a Politician

By: Chris Bryant

Narrated by: Chris Bryant

Bloomsbury presents A Life and a Half, written and read by Chris Bryant

‘Charming, unexpected, honest’ RORY STEWART

The gripping, remarkably candid story of one man’s unorthodox life before politics, from Labour minister and Sunday Times-bestselling author Chris Bryant

‘It is often said that the politicians of today have no hinterland, but then along comes Chris Bryant with a fascinating, frank, funny and moving account of how he became one’ REVEREND RICHARD COLES

Before he was a politician, Chris Bryant was an Anglican priest, baptising babies and holding the hands of the dying. Before that, he manned the barricades in Latin America, and before that, he was the scared son of an alcoholic mother and an estranged father.

This is a no-holds-barred account of a minister’s truly unconventional life before politics – one that has left Bryant equally at home behind the altar, in sweaty gay clubs, on the hustings or the stage. With characteristic frankness, he recounts growing up in General Franco’s Spain, acting alongside some of the most talented names of the day as a teenager, and caring for his brother and mother as she descended into addiction. He ran the family home from sixteen, became ordained at twenty-four and came out as gay shortly after. And that’s just the early years.

A Life and a Half tells a gripping story of bishops and actors, drag queens and pushy candidates, stuffed with moments of joy and hilarity and sorrow and abuse. All while tracking the landscape of late-twentieth-century British politics, from Thatcher to the birth of New Labour. It is a memoir like no other.

©2025 Chris Bryant (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

This is a riveting read: self-revelatory, candid about others, and packed with outrageous stories . . . This autobiography is also the story of a man who survived an appalling childhood to lead a varied and worthwhile life as a priest and then politician . . . All told with self-deprecating humour (Richard Harries)

An MP’s memoir that stops as soon as he actually arrives in parliament, focusing instead on the much more human story of how he got there (Rachel Cunliffe)

This is a fabulous, funny and inspiring book. Chris is one of the most important, individual and principled voices in public life. This is the unexpected and fascinating story of how he came to be who he is – and thank goodness it worked out this way! (DAVID TENNANT)

Chris’s reflections on adolescence, the discovery of his sexuality and his path through modern politics are rendered with striking honesty and humour . . . Rich with anecdote, at times bittersweet, often wry, and always authentic (RICHARD ARMITAGE)