Enjoyed this review of The Usual Channels (and Simon Hart’s diaries) in the TLS
On a point of clarity - as others have noted this - there 100% *was* a black book…I just included whips’ obfuscation about it, and how it was all about note taking to gather intelligence
www.the-tls.com/politics-by-...
Enjoyed this Q&A with author Patrick Doherty about my favourite books, writers, and my most controversial opinion
www.patrick-doherty.net/jabugo-book-...
many congratulations, Rob! I really enjoyed reading The Illusionist last year. Look forward to your latest venture
I for one am very excited for Phase Three
Absolute ripper of a column from @patrickmaguire.bsky.social this morning
The Defectors
Is one side’s headache about to become another party’s migraine?
Latest Usual Channels substack is out now.
open.substack.com/pub/theusual...
I went to one wedding whether the father of the bride went through in granular detail the highlights of each of his daughter's 27 years
This is worse #Trump
It's like the worst father of the bride speech #Trump
Sometimes I wish the internet didn't exist and then Brooklyn Beckham posts his stories and everything makes sense again
19.01: Check for reviews. Glowing five-star. Wonderful! Am brilliant writer.
19.14: Message from friend. I left you a review on GoodReads xx hope it helps! (starting this weekend)
open.substack.com/pub/whalemig...
This week’s whipping anecdote is the one about the American invasion
Out now: open.substack.com/pub/theusual...
Thanks to my writers' group in Seville, which recently released a collection of some of our works, I achieved a goal for 2025 of getting a piece of fiction published. In this case, it's a short story called Breakfast at El Pica:
whalemigration.substack.com/p/a-short-st...
The Christmas Whip
A little ditty on David Lightbown, the marauding giant of a Tory whip dressed as Father Christmas.
theusualchannels.substack.com/p/the-christ...
Wish I had the same level of irony as the person who came up with the spelling of the word phonetic
‘I looked at my phone and rallied myself. Enough. Fuck this thing and its control on my life, on my attention, on my well-being. I picked up a book and sank into the sofa.’
I Read 100 Books in 2025. This is What I Learnt
open.substack.com/pub/whalemig...
Keir Starmer and I need to get real
Today you have to put yourself out there and make your case. Again and again and again. But the big question remains: what is it that you want to say?
open.substack.com/pub/theusual...
So funny to me the idea that Liz Truss’ undoing was just the mini-budget and not that she was obviously unsuited to the role of prime minister by basically every conceivable metric
Inspired by @danbloom1.bsky.social’s brilliant piece on the Tories’ improved output in opposition, I’ve written about the ‘Fuck-Up Squad’, the Tory committee that wreaked havoc against the Jim Callaghan government in the late 70s.
Is the old band back together?
open.substack.com/pub/theusual...
Bested by an ex-Chief Whip
An interview that went wrong.
This week’s The Usual Channels Substack is out now!
open.substack.com/pub/theusual...
‘The book is a huge hit for any Westminster political junkie, and what makes it work is the feast of political anecdotes that pepper the 500-plus pages.’
So thrilled with Roger Alton’s review of The Usual Channels in @dailymail.co.uk
www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/a...
‘In my time, the Tories were always better organised, their whipping arrangements more sophisticated, and their whole practice of dealing with the whips’ office was better.’
A piece on Labour’s whipping inferiority complex - and why a new look whips’ office will be up against it
Blair didn’t remove the whip from Corbyn et al. Starmer did.
But who was right?
All this and more in The Usual Channels Substack
Cracking the Code: How I took on the near impenetrable world of the whips’ office.
The first article of The Usual Channels Substack is now live, ft words from my favourite (anonymous) ex-Chief Whip and pen pal
theusualchannels.substack.com/p/cracking-t...
"Whale interviewed a large number of whips and ex-whips, enabling him to write an accurate and sympathetic account"
📚 Lord George Young reviews @sebwhale.bsky.social 'The Usual Channels: Inside the Mysterious World of Political Whips' | @bitebackpublishing.bsky.social
bit.ly/431Mrq7
LATEST PODCAST | What are the Usual Channels? A short history of Westminster whipping
We talk to @sebwhale.bsky.social about his new book, pulling back the curtain on one of Westminster's most notorious elements: the Whips.
Listen below 🔽
buff.ly/phTKkve
🌟“A magnificent achievement. Whale has delivered the authoritative book on the most mysterious pillar of Westminster’s power structure – the whips’ office. Packed with insight and colourful anecdotes from inside the Houses of Parliament, this is a political junkie’s dream.” Jack Blanchard
Thank you, Alexandra!
Few better feelings!
A special moment shared with Jeremy Hughes, a close friend and illustrator extraordinaire, who designed the cover.
The Usual Channels is out on Thursday! tinyurl.com/yc2hdkar
Really enjoyed this week's episode of The Rundown on the 'dark arts' of political whipping with @alaintolhurst.bsky.social @sebwhale.bsky.social & former Govt Chief Whip, Lord Harper. Straight onto the Reading List for #PIED2706 Week 2: Who's Who in Parliament open.spotify.com/episode/1zAe...
