Good Chaps

The 'Good Chaps' theory holds that those who rise to power in the UK will almost always be trustworthy public servants - good chaps who can be trusted to follow the rules and do the right thing. It's only when bad chaps take office that things go wrong, and our unwritten codes of conduct are powerless to stop the sleaze.

For fourteen years Britain has been run by a clique of bad chaps. Our politics and institutions are now awash with financial scandals, cronyism and a sure feeling that politicians can't be trusted. With a general election looming, what can we do about it?

In Good Chaps, Simon Kuper chronicles how corruption set in across public life, from oligarchs bribing MPs to the billions defrauded in the pandemic and unelected Prime Ministers who blatantly put themselves before the country's needs.

The chumocracy may be about to end, but will our politicians behave like good chaps again?