Profile Books

It’s Labour conference time – make sure you’re Off-Message!

27 September 2012

 

Whether you’re heading to Manchester or just watching from the sidelines, the only way to be is Off-Message!

Here are some tips from Profile author Bob Marshall Andrews from his popular book, Off-Message: The complete antidote to political humbug.

In the book (‘full of wit, warmth, wisdom – and wine’  Ian Hislop’)  New Labour’s most prominent dissident and Tony Blair’s least favourite colleague offers sage advice on how to be a political maverick:

(1)   Make a gentle joke at a leading party figure’s expense.  Be careful to pick one with no sense of humour, who is close to the party leadership – this will ensure you stay on the back benches

(2)   Do all you can to sabotage anti-liberal legislation (you’ll keep busy)

(3)   Form the Old Testament Prophets Club  of MPs who wouldn’t toe the party line

(4)   Campaign for a candidate whose integrity you respect – even if he is in the wrong party

(5)   Take up the case of a constituent’s pet alligator

(6)   When it all gets too much and you’ve been chewed out too many times by the whips pour yourself a glass of wine and draw inspiration from the great British socialists: eccentric, iconoclastic and benign – like Oscar Wilde who wrote ‘Socialism itself will be of value simply because it will lead to individualism’

Off-Message is available in paperback now.


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