Confessions of a Political Maverick

Shortlisted for the Political Books Awards 'Best Parliamentary Memoir 2018' Austin Mitchell is a political maverick. For thirty-eight years he was a fly in the parliamentary ointment, a recurring itch on the body politic. A maverick may annoy the whips, threaten party discipline and challenge the solemnities of Parliament. Troublemakers they may well be, but the Commons would certainly be a duller place without them. However Mitchell's dissidence wasn't all bitterness without volume control. Rattling the cage, swimming against the tide, pursuing honourable causes and, of course, fighting for his constituency, Grimsby, proved a rewarding career in itself. Confessions of a Political Maverick succeeds in uncovering the realities behind the pretentious parliamentary facade of tradition and the stuffy complacency of Britain's failing political class. Dissenting from the peculiar and highly particular conformity of career politicians dedicated to climbing the greasy pole can be a lonely role, but it can also be fun. It certainly was for Austin Mitchell.

Austin Mitchell was Labour MP for Grimsby from 1977 until 2015 and is a former member of the public accounts committee. Born in Bradford, Mitchell was educated at Woodbottom Council School, Bingley Grammar School, the University of Manchester and Nuffield College, Oxford. From 1959-63 he lectured in history at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. He was a journalist at Yorkshire Television, from 1969 to 1977, presenting their regional news programme Calendar. He has also worked for the BBC.