They say all political careers end in tears – in Gyles Brandreth’s case it’s tears of laughter as the author, broadcaster, former MP and government whip takes us on an hilarious roller-coaster ride through the corridors of power – from Buckingham Palace to the Kremlin, from the green benches of Westminster to the green rooms of the West End. With a cast-list that runs from Oscar Wilde to Elizabeth II this is a wickedly witty entertainment from an award-winning raconteur with unique tales to tell from his unlikely life in the theatre, television, journalism and politics.

‘Gyles Brandreth is brilliant . . . incredibly funny, wildly indiscreet’ Daily Mail

‘A deadpan comic to rival Jack Dee’ Daily Telegraph

‘Gyles Brandreth has a serious talent for making people laugh’ Daily Mirror

‘In Gyles Brandreth, the West End has unleashed a weapon of mass entertainment. His performance should be required viewing for anyone who fancies themselves as a comedian’ The Scotsman

‘Not merely, like all the best after-dinner speakers, does he know how to spin a yarn – he has a touching access to the secrets of the human heart’ The Times

Gyles Brandreth’s career has ranged from being a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in John Major’s government to starring in the West End in his own award-winning musical, Zipp!
Remembered for the colourful jumpers he wore on TV in the 1980s, his recent TV appearances include Have I Got News for You, QI, Room 101, Countdown and Celebrity Mastermind. In 2003 he was the subject of This Is Your Life.

Currently he is a reporter with BBC1’s The One Show and a regular on Radio 4’s Just a Minute. He has written novels, children’s books and an acclaimed political diary, Breaking the Code, said, by The Times, to be ‘by far the best political diary of recent years, far more perceptive and revealing than Alan Clark’s.’

His latest bestsellers are two royal biographies – Charles & Camilla, Portrait of a Love Affair and Philip & Elizabeth, Portrait of a Marriage – and a series of Victorian murder mysteries featuring Oscar Wilde as the detective. According to Alexander McCall Smith, Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders is ‘one of the most intelligent, amusing and entertaining books of the year. If Oscar Wilde himself had been asked to write this book he could not have done it any better.’