Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors

50 Places That Changed British Politics

By: Matt Chorley

Narrated by: Matt Chorley

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors is an entertaining and original romp through the highs and lows of British political history and the unlikely locations that have decided our national fate.

Forget Westminster bust-ups and PMQs, some of the key events that have shaped modern British politics happened not in the cloisters of parliament or Downing Street’s many corridors of power, but in car parks, village halls and seaside resorts where the mundane have played host to the mighty. From Pitt the Younger’s Putney Heath duel to finding Margaret Thatcher a voice coach on a train, Harold Wilson’s ‘Scilly’ season holidays to John Major’s dental appointment clearing his path to No10 – these (and many more) are the places where chance meetings, untimely deaths and snap, sometimes daft, decisions changed the course of politics.

Matt Chorley has spent almost two decades covering Westminster, interviewing prime ministers, mocking ministers and chronicling the serious, and sometimes unintentionally absurd, events which act as unlikely turning points in the direction of a nation. Illustrated by award-winning political cartoonist Morten Morland, Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors combines Matt’s insider-knowledge, smart analysis and detailed research with his background in comedy to create an hilarious history of how politics actually happens.

©2023 Matt Chorley (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

'Matt Chorley never fails to look at politics from a different perspective and to make it fun. This book is a rollicking ride through the turning points of the last two hundred years, including many we will never forget and others that some of us wish we could'
William Hague

'Revealing, touching and very funny, Matt Chorley’s delightful romp through the rooms where it happened (and the restaurants, museums and beach huts too) is packed full of insight, detail and momentous political stories' Ed Balls

'Matt Chorley has the ability to burst the bubble of politicians’ pomposity and show them in all their hilarious ridiculousness. Always acutely observed and completely on point – and loads of belly laughs' Lorraine Kelly

A humorous adventure

As a Yankee, I enjoyed this humorous look at the political history of the United Kingdom. If you want an enjoyable quick listen this is the book.

Enjoyed an inside look at UK politics

It was a good inside look at UK politics through interesting places and eras. Would recommend it