The Candidate cover art

The Candidate

Jeremy Corbyn's Improbable Path to Power

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Candidate

By: Alex Nunns
Narrated by: Pete Nottage
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Nominated for the 2017 Bread & Roses Award for Radical Publishing.

In June 2017, an earthquake shook the very foundations of British politics. With Labour widely predicted to suffer a crushing defeat in the general election, Jeremy Corbyn instead achieved a stunning upset - a hung parliament, the humiliation of Theresa May's government, and more than 40 percent of the vote.

A lifelong and uncompromising socialist, Corbyn had, against all expectations, been dramatically elected leader of the party in September 2015. In the space of less than two years, he had progressed from 200-to-one outsider for the Labour Party leadership to become an apparent Prime Minister-in-waiting.

How these events came about is the subject of Alex Nunns' highly listenable and richly researched account. Drawing on firsthand interviews with those involved in the leadership and general-election campaigns, including Labour's most senior figures, Nunns traces the origins of Corbyn's ascent. Giving full justice to the dramatic swings and nail-biting tensions of an extraordinary moment in UK politics, Nunns' telling of a story that has received widespread attention but little understanding is as illuminating as it is entertaining.

Selected by The Guardian as one of the best politics books of 2016, this updated edition includes a new introduction and an extensive afterword that brings an extraordinary story right up to date.

©2018 Alex Nunns (P)2018 Alex Nunns
Elections & Political Process Great Britain Political Science Politicians Politics & Government
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

This Land cover art
Always Red cover art
Blue Murder cover art
The Plot cover art
The Establishment cover art
This Is Only the Beginning cover art
How Westminster Works...and Why It Doesn't cover art
The Message cover art
Revival cover art
Into the Bright Sunshine cover art
The Killing Season Uncut cover art
The Resistible Rise of Benjamin Netanyahu cover art
The Fall of Boris Johnson cover art
How Bernie Won cover art
The Abuse of Power cover art
Ten Years Hard Labour cover art

What listeners say about The Candidate

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    50
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    37
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    43
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Funny in retrospect

A hilarious listen, given Labour’s election thrashing just 2 years later.
Narration has a bizarre method of delivering other people’s quotes by speaking extremely quickly. Honestly sounds ludicrous.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining as well as educational.

Loved it ! Entertaining and educational , great story. Told with honesty , covering all sides of this political phenomenon.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The unlikely story of a left wing candidate taking power in the Labour Party

Alex Nunns' book "The Candidate" is a captivating journey into a pivotal era within the Labour Party. It skillfully unravels the remarkable and unforeseen ascent of a genuinely left-wing MP to the helm of the party. This insightful narrative offers readers a unique perspective on the inner workings of political transformation and leaves you inspired by the power of grassroots movements. Nunns' writing is engaging and thought-provoking, making "The Candidate" a must-read for anyone interested in the dynamics of progressive politics

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent

Cuts through the Tory press bias and delivers the facts about the unlikely rise of Corbyn

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good book but a little biased

This is a good book with a good story but it has a very clear left wing stance. I still enjoyed the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Highly Recommended

Thoroughly enjoyed reliving this political period especially with insights from main protagonist's .

Narration was Superb

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must read

Excellent insight and analysis for those who are open to listening. Oh what could’ve been...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hero worship

For an audiobook which rightly points out the nonsense of hero worship and imbalanced press coverage, particularly in the political sphere, it is pretty much a relentless apologetic for Mr Corbyn.

The narrator, clearly a convert himself, delivers breathlessly, which actually spoils what is otherwise an entertainingly well-written, unashamedly partisan, homage to the very kind of populist politics people clearly love (to hate) from all sides of the political spectrum.

Relentless anecdotal rehearsals of clapping, back-slapping and basking in the glory of the 'Candidate' get a bit tiresome.

Otherwise, it's an interesting read/listen if you're a paid up member of Mr Corbyn's fan club, or are othewise amused by/fed up with the whole political merry-go-round.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Embarrassingly poor narration

Boring, but also rendered unlistenable because of the narrator’s command of English. Pronounced “tributary” as “try-BEW-sha-ree”. Mate, you had one job...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A reminder of how Corbyn came to lead the Labour Party

I wanted a reminder of what had happened since Corbyn came to prominence as a leadership candidate, and got it. It was over long though, with too many snide asides on the party machine. I’d have preferred it to stick closer to the facts with less rhetoric. The narration felt rushed and breathless. Mispronounced words spoiled the narrative. Glad I finished it though.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!