Chief of Staff: Notes From Downing Street by Gavin Barwell

Hardback: Once a more sedate affair, since 2016, British politics has witnessed a barrage of crises, resignations and general elections. 

As Brexit became logjammed, Theresa May's premiership was the most turbulent of all. In her darkest hour, following the disastrous 2017 election, she turned to Gavin Barwell to restore her battered authority. He would become her Chief of Staff for the next two years - a period punctuated by strained negotiations, domestic tragedy, and intense political drama.

In this gripping insider memoir, Barwell reveals what really went on in the corridors of power - and sheds a vital light on May, the most inscrutable of modern prime ministers. He was by her side when she negotiated her Brexit deal, met Donald Trump, heard about the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury, responded to the Grenfell Tower fire, met Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer to broker a cross-party Brexit agreement - and ultimately made the decision to stand down as Prime Minister. 

Revealing how government operates during times of crisis, Chief of Staff: Notes From Downing Street (2021) will become the definitive record of a momentous episode in Britain's recent political history.

About the author: Gavin Barwell served as Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Minister for London at the Department for Communities and Local Government from July 2016 until June 2017. He was elected Conservative MP for Croydon Central in May 2010.

Gavin previously served as Government Whip, Comptroller of HM Household from May 2015 until July 2016, Lord Commissioner, Whip from July 2014 until May 2015 and as Assistant Whip from October 2013 until July 2014. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, from 2012 to 2013 and PPS to the Minister of State for Decentralisation and Planning Policy, Greg Clark, from 2011 to 2012. He has been a member of the following Select Committees: Science and Technology 2010 to 2012 and Draft House of Lords Reform Bill (Joint Committee) 2011 to 2012.