No Way to Run a Country: An Outsider’s Journey into the Heart of Our Broken Politics
Sep 2026 · Pan Macmillan
Ebook
400
Pages
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Eligible
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About this ebook
‘Remarkable. Deeply personal, moving and funny. Johnny is not your typical person or politician’ – Alastair Campbell
‘An extraordinary book by an extraordinary person’ – Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge and co-host of The Rest Is Politics
Brutally honest, insightful and darkly funny, No Way to Run a Country is former Cabinet minister Johnny Mercer’s account of a tumultuous nine years in Parliament, under five prime ministers including Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
In this deeply personal memoir, he reveals what Westminster and government is really like and neatly skewers its many absurdities.
Johnny, who fought in Afghanistan in 29 Commando Regiment, was fired up with anger at the poor treatment of veterans by successive governments. Determined to do something about it, in 2015 he stood for election in his beloved city of Plymouth. This political outsider was on a mission to change the country.
Johnny’s experiences in Westminster veer from hilarious to infuriating as he refuses to accept the gap between what governments say and what they do. As a result he is threatened, briefed against and sacked as a minister – twice! Politics is a blood sport, whatever your party.
He sees a system riven with infighting, incompetence and inertia, struggling through Brexit, the fall of Afghanistan and numerous self-inflicted crises. There are many good MPs who deserve better. The public certainly does.
As the outsider becomes the insider, he succeeds in creating the UK’s first Office of Veterans’ Affairs and introduces legislation to protect their rights and service. But for Johnny, who has his own daily battle with crippling OCD, the long fight comes at a cost.
Perfect for readers of Politics on the Edge and Ungovernable.
‘An extraordinary book by an extraordinary person’ – Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge and co-host of The Rest Is Politics
Brutally honest, insightful and darkly funny, No Way to Run a Country is former Cabinet minister Johnny Mercer’s account of a tumultuous nine years in Parliament, under five prime ministers including Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
In this deeply personal memoir, he reveals what Westminster and government is really like and neatly skewers its many absurdities.
Johnny, who fought in Afghanistan in 29 Commando Regiment, was fired up with anger at the poor treatment of veterans by successive governments. Determined to do something about it, in 2015 he stood for election in his beloved city of Plymouth. This political outsider was on a mission to change the country.
Johnny’s experiences in Westminster veer from hilarious to infuriating as he refuses to accept the gap between what governments say and what they do. As a result he is threatened, briefed against and sacked as a minister – twice! Politics is a blood sport, whatever your party.
He sees a system riven with infighting, incompetence and inertia, struggling through Brexit, the fall of Afghanistan and numerous self-inflicted crises. There are many good MPs who deserve better. The public certainly does.
As the outsider becomes the insider, he succeeds in creating the UK’s first Office of Veterans’ Affairs and introduces legislation to protect their rights and service. But for Johnny, who has his own daily battle with crippling OCD, the long fight comes at a cost.
Perfect for readers of Politics on the Edge and Ungovernable.
‘Remarkable. Deeply personal, moving and funny. Johnny is not your typical person or politician’ – Alastair Campbell
‘An extraordinary book by an extraordinary person’ – Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge and co-host of The Rest Is Politics
Brutally honest, insightful and darkly funny...
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About the author
Johnny Mercer was elected in May 2015 as the Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View and served as a junior minister in the MoD before becoming a Cabinet minister. He created the UK Government’s Office for Veterans’ Affairs, oversaw record spending on veterans and introduced legislation in Parliament that would become law to protect their rights and services. Since losing his seat in 2024, he has worked extensively in Ukraine with their government, to help establish the Ukrainian Veterans Corps to improve veterans’ care pathways. His acclaimed first book, We Were Warriors, detailed his military career and was a Sunday Times bestseller. No Way to Run a Country is a memoir of his time in office.
Johnny Mercer was elected in May 2015 as the Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View and served as a junior minister in the MoD before becoming a Cabinet minister. He created the UK Government’s Office for Veterans’ Affairs, oversaw record spending on veterans and introduced legislation in Parliam...
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