''Comrade Corbyn: A Very Unlikely Coup'' is a 2016 book by British journalist Rosa Prince, published by

Biteback Publishing Biteback Publishing is a British publisher based in London concentrating mainly on political titles. It was incorporated, as a private limited company with share capital, in 2009. It was jointly owned by its managing director Iain Dale and by M ...

. It is an

unauthorised biography An unauthorized biography is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after their death; as such, it is not applied to biographi ...

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

, who was the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from 2015 to 2020.

Background

, the left-wing Member of the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

for

Islington North Islington North () is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Jeremy Corbyn. He served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition from 2015 to 2020. Co ...

since 1983 announced his candidacy for the 2015 Labour Party leadership election. He struggled to obtain the required nominations from fellow MPs and was initially seen as a fringe candidate and an outsider. However, he was subsequently elected as leader in a landslide, with nearly 60% of the vote. The book was published by

, a publisher jointly owned by

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

activist and blogger

Iain Dale Iain Campbell Dale (born 15 July 1962) is a British broadcaster, author and political commentator, and a former publisher and book retailer. He has been a blogger since 2002. In 2005, he became the first openly gay Conservative candidate to c ...

and Conservative Party Member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Michael Ashcroft Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, (born 4 March 1946) is a British-Belizean businessman, pollster and politician. He is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Ashcroft founded Michael A. Ashcroft Associates in 1972 and is ...

. It was authored by Rosa Prince, a journalist with the Conservative newspaper ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

''.

Synopsis

''Comrade Corbyn'' is a biography of the political career of Corbyn, including his unexpected and successful run for the Labour leadership. The book also examines his early life in rural Shropshire, his support for contentious causes such as Palestinian freedom and a peace process in Northern Ireland.

Reception

Critical reception was mixed. In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Zoe Williams Zoe Abigail Williams (born 7 August 1973) is a Welsh columnist, journalist, and author. Early life Zoe Abigail Williams was born on 7 August 1973 in Hounslow, West London, England. Williams was educated at the independent Godolphin and Latymer ...

broadly criticised ''Comrade Corbyn''. She suggested that much of the "revelations" were sourced from the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. Williams was critical of the gossip and lack of serious political analysis, noting that instead a former "remote associate" was quoted claiming Corbyn's flat was "an absolute tip". Williams did praise the more objective analysis of Corbyn's support for causes in Northern Ireland and Palestine. Williams described some elements of the book as "meticulously uninterested, slightly spiteful analysis". In ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'',

Andy McSmith Andy McSmith is a far-left freelance English journalist. He was a journalist at ''The Independent'' newspaper from April 2007 to April 2016, having previously been political correspondent on the same paper, and political editor of the ''Independ ...

defended the book. He wrote that "with all due respect to Corbyn-loving acolytes – this is not a hatchet job. It is an affectionate portrait of a man she (the author) obviously thinks has landed himself in the wrong job". Pointing to criticism of Prince's book from Corbyn's followers, McSmith said that "when the Corbyn era is over ... I doubt if its author will be accused of being 'spiteful'. I think the verdict will be that she was rather kind". Jeremy Corbyn told his local newspaper, the ''

Islington Tribune The ''Islington Tribune'' is a free, independent newspaper that covers the London Borough of Islington in north London. It was founded in 2003 as a sister paper to the ''Camden New Journal''. It carries significant influence locally due to its hig ...

'' that "I’ve seen the book. It’s riddled with inaccuracies. I found 14 in the first eight pages I read. Dates, places, names, people, all things that could have been checked if the research had been done properly". He noted that "I think it generally lacks an analysis of the politics of Britain at the time. It’s a disappointing book. She had no approval from me, for the writing of it or approaching people to undertake interviews". Corbyn also suggested Prince had been impolite in the way she dealt with Corbyn and his family, stating "I’m pleased she notes my politeness. I wish she had shown the same politeness to me. She might care to adopt that characteristic herself".

References

External links

* * {{Jeremy Corbyn 2016 non-fiction books Biteback Publishing books British biographies Books about Jeremy Corbyn Books about politics of the United Kingdom Unauthorized biographies