Rory Stewart's Politics on the Edge
10/11/25
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Whenever Politics on the Edge is mentioned, one particular anecdote always comes to mind. Rory Stewart, former Tory minister and now of notable podcast fame, discusses, among a myriad of reflective and generally pessimistic if interesting tales, a brief time in which he contemplated suicide after an unfortunate incident with a nefarious journalist. Though the journalist had completely misconstrued Stewart’s words and their meaning, for he had done no wrong, the devastating thought still cropped up inside his head. He dismissed it quickly, but the theme of grim, hopeless pessimism and the toll it took on Stewart’s psyche certainly permeates the rest of the book.
Having engaged with Stewart’s ‘The Rest is Politics’ podcast, which he co-hosts charismatically with the equally compelling Alastair Campbell (a major political player in his own right during the New Labour years), I expected Politics on the Edge to be perhaps a little more upbeat than it turned out. The charisma with which Stewart articulates himself certainly translates onto paper, even if slightly dampened by his glum perspectives. The title of the book almost seems to refer to the art of politics, contemplating its own demise in very much the same manner as Stewart himself did. But this isn’t an issue – it’s not as if the bleak tone doesn’t suit the book's content, because it most certainly does.
As Politics on the Edge is Stewart’s memoir, it unsurprisingly accounts for his tumultuous political career, from governing an Iraqi province, to a cabinet position in the second May ministry, to standing to be leader of the Conservative Party, and much more from his time across various governmental departments. Stewart reflects on his negative experiences and the great difficulty legislative activism faces. Though positive moments bear their heads, and the author’s solid grasp of wit and humour masks the downtroddenness, this is certainly a dreary account of what Stewart sees as the great British decline. Though this culminates in a wholly engaging read, between the lines it screams of 'what-could-have-been' in Stewart’s career and what kind of politics he could have helped shape.
RORY STEWART, AUTHOR OF POLITICS ON THE EDGE, IMAGE: CHRIS MCANDREW
Bitter isn’t the right word, because he isn’t bitter. It’s not the agitated tale of the prince who never received the crown, but is more calculated and reasonable, more akin to a politically desolate tragedy. The closer he gets to actual power, the further he gets from it by inciting his own downfall, culminating in his not-so-gracious expulsion from politics.
Still, despite its engaging Shakespearean-like tragic qualities, Politics on the Edge does suffer slightly from the typical issue faced by memoirs – ‘I was right-ism’. Stewart seems to have, throughout his political career, always known what people were really like under the surface. Now that the big beasts have had their time in the limelight, such as Johnson and Truss (he saw the former as an egoistic opportunist, and the latter as rather crazed), Stewart’s initial and working assessments appear wholly correct and in alignment with public consensus. Stewart never explicitly expresses this sentiment, like the typical frustrating memoir of an out-of-it politician, but it still resides in bold print between the lines. This isn’t to discount Stewart’s acumen, but merely to note that the book’s often compelling nature is blemished by the perpetual sentiment of ‘I told you so’. Whether you believe Stewart is inflaming his wisdom with the help of retrospection is your decision; it just becomes far more difficult to fully trust the adamant storyteller when he’s telling his own story.
Even if overstating both the collapse of Britain and his own instinctive intellect, Stewart comes across as a very likeable figure, always caught between one thought and another. Half here, half there. Slightly unstable, but unmistakably interesting. Politics on the Edge explores his time in the middle of the storm, and so the book’s misgivings can be partially dismissed as the rhetorical flair of a much-frustrated and aggrieved man.
Is Politics on the Edge worth your time? Without doubt, even if the book is best served with a pinch of sceptical salt. Stewart is a clear and engaging commentator, whose voice only falters as a result of its insistence on reinforcing its own authority.
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