The Abuse of Power

As Prime Minister for three years and Home Secretary for six years, Theresa May confronted a series of issues in which the abuse of power led to devastating results for individuals and significantly damaged the reputation of, and trust in, public institutions and politicians. From the Hillsborough and Grenfell tragedies, to the Daniel Morgan case and parliamentary scandals, the powerful repeatedly chose to use their power not in the interests of the powerless but to serve themselves or to protect the organisation to which they belonged.

The Abuse of Power is a searing expose of injustice and an impassioned call to exercise power for the greater good. Drawing on examples from domestic and international affairs she was personally involved in at the highest level, including Stop and Search and the Salisbury Poisonings, the former prime minister argues for a radical rethink in how we approach our politics and public life.

So boldly different it creates a mini-genre all of its own . . . This is a pleasant surprise: a genuinely unusual, bold and important book. You can't say that of many political memoirs -- Andrew Marr The New Statesman
Fascinating and crisply written . . . That May has more seriousness and commitment than the average politician . . . means she has a better chance to fix some of those burning injustices this book shows she is clearly still worried about -- Isabel Hardman i Newspaper
The book will reinforce the view that May was a politician of conviction and compassion. -- Robert Shrimsley Financial Times
Very interesting... I strongly agree with the central message of [the] book...that we need a sense of moral compass in politics... Put together it's pretty shocking... Terrifying as an account of what's wrong in the British state Rory Stewart on The Rest is Politics: Leading
Often political writing focuses on soap opera and personalities. But personalities - as Theresa May knows better than most - come and go. Structures remain. May's account of how public institutions wield their power and avoid accountability is an admirable attempt to draw our focus in the right direction The Times Best Politics Books of 2023
A serious-minded study of scandals in which vulnerable people were failed by those in authority Guardian Best Politics Books of 2023

Theresa May has served as the MP for Maidenhead since 1997. She was a member of the Shadow Cabinet from 1999 to 2010, and from 2002 to 2003 she was the first female Chairman of the Conservative Party. She was appointed Home Secretary in 2010 and became the longest-serving Conservative Home Secretary for over a century. She served as Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019. The Abuse of Power is her first book.

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