Five Days in May (Dramatised)

By: Matthew Solon

Narrated by: Samuel West, Nicholas Boulton, Gerard Kelly, Henry Goodman

Written by Matthew Solon. This play tells the story of the tense negotiation that followed the 2010 general election, which led to the country's first post-war coalition.

Based on interviews with those who were at the meetings, political journalists and on published material - and using actors to play all the key characters - this is a compelling account of those five momentous days in May.

Under extreme pressure and suffering from lack of sleep, the politicians argued and negotiated. There was nothing inevitable about a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. Revealing key moments of the negotiations, the drama unpicks what went on behind closed doors and shows how an alliance between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats gradually formed, and how it withstood the resignation of Gordon Brown.

Based on painstaking research, this is a must-listen 60-minute play. It’s a compelling and entertaining account by award-winning writer Matthew Solon of the most extraordinary British election outcome in 70 years.

Cast:

• David Cameron ..... Samuel West
• Nick Clegg ..... Nicholas Boulton
• Gordon Brown ..... Gerard Kelly
• Peter Mandelson ..... Henry Goodman
• Ed Balls ..... John Sessions
• William Hague ..... Philip Jackson
• Danny Alexander ..... Emun Elliot
• David Laws ..... Anthony Calf
• Chris Huhne ..... Rupert Frazer
• George Osborne ..... Ian Hughes

Other parts are played by Charlotte Longfield, Wilf Gilmour and members of the cast. Producer/Director: John Dryden. A Goldhawk Essential Production for BBC Radio 4.

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