TMP Online

The 1997 Labour victory ushered in a new generation of women into British politics. Oona King became only the second black woman to be elected to parliament.  Her new book, “House Music: The Oona King Diaries”, gives a moving account of her time as an MP and is published this week - here TMP gives you a preview.

How does it feel to lose your job in front of 10 million people? To become an MP in your twenties? To ask a Government Whip for time to see your husband? To sleep on the floor while waiting to vote in the middle of the night? To represent the Secretary of State for Health at a family-planning clinic on the day you fail your 5th IVF cycle? To be loved and hated by people who don’t even know you? To be the second black woman elected to Parliament? To be a Jewish woman representing a largely Muslim constituency? To be the only MP who likes house music?

The 1997 Labour victory changed British politics for ever, ushering in a new generation of women into parliament. The most high profile of ‘Blair’s babes’, Oona King, won a prized London constituency and became an MP at 29.

Yet, despite wanting to be an MP since she was five, after only three years at Westminster, Oona considered resignation. Regular 90-hour weeks, an end to her private life and frequent death-threats made Oona question why she had worked all her life to become an MP. It also made her question the dysfunctional relationship between people and politicians.

When Iraq became the biggest issue in British politics, Oona was set on a collision course with her constituents, eventually losing her seat to George Galloway in the most symbolic defeat of the Blair Government on election night 2005.

Oona’s diaries also give a moving and honest account of the effect that her role as MP had on her home life: from the intense strain on her marriage due to long hours and countless sleepless nights, to the pain of repeated IVF failure. She reveals how her experiences led to her finally abandoning her ambition to become Prime Minister in favour of another ambition: to have a life.

Oona will be in conversation with Independent journalist Johann Hari about her book at the London Review Bookshop on Thursday 13 September from 6.30pm. Tickets cost £6 and can be obtained here. For other dates in her promotional tour, click here.