On Thursday, the subgenre gained a new addition: Whips by Cleo Watson, Boris Johnson’s former aide and ally of Dominic Cummings. To mark the release, we’ve chosen the good, the bad and the average novels about Westminster dished up by insiders over the last 10 years, from the bonkbuster to the taut political thriller. Landslide win

Westminster in the 2020s, where the business of governing is the last thing on the agenda for anyone worth their salt. In the SW1 bubble, politics moves fast, schemes are hatched and foiled - through both accident and conspiracy - within hours, and sex and power preside. Former deputy leader of the Labour party Tom Watson gets some points just for printing the name of his co-writer on the cover of his thriller. And the work of novelist Imogen Robertson shows: two convincingly drawn political enemies and former housemates, Owen and Philip, are at the centre of a plot that shifts nimbly between 2008 and 2022 as the pair’s past catches up with them. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ The Jilly Cooper-esque satire from the former Johnson adviser features an abundance of sex and scandal in Westminster. In her author’s note, Watson stresses that her characters are not based on real politicians. “Honestly, not everything’s about you,” she quips. This becomes hard to buy as Watson introduces characters such as the womanising Percy Cross, a former PM who resigns after a scandal and goes on to write columns for The Telegraph and “poorly researched hagiographies of his favourite historical figures.” Hmm. Hung parliament The book is prescient in other ways too. Labour loses election after election (“disaffection ran high in what were once Labour’s northern strongholds”), and after the death of Harry Perkins – a Corbynite, Tony Benn-like avatar – the party moves to the centre, and a Starmeresque figure ascends the ranks.

The story is partly set in the Covid era and opens with Philip making a blunder in the Commons, supporting a public memorial to “celebrate” the deaths of frontline workers. He meant to say “commemorate,” of course, and apologises, but already he “can see the newspaper and social media headlines next to a picture of his own sweating face.” Shortly after, he has the urge to “strike” Owen, sending his “owlish glasses flying”. Such inner monologues pepper the book – and, however embittered and vengeful, feel satisfyingly honest.

This Westminster-adjacent courtroom drama centres on a sexual misconduct case: James, an Eton- and Oxford-educated junior Home Office minister and best friend of the PM, is accused of rape by his aide, Olivia. Vaughan successfully renders the complex perspectives of the women surrounding James – including Sophie, his wife, and Kate, the QC prosecuting his case – offering an incisive take on institutional male privilege in politics and law. (The book has also been adapted into a Netflix miniseries.) Riotous and all too believable, Whips is a timely satire on politics and Party people. Watson takes us behind the doors of Number 10 and delivers a gripping tale of modern government, filled with intrigue and scandal and written with insight and verve. Whips delivers on every promise. From hostile briefings and spad skulduggery to extramarital sex, there’s never been any shortage of bad behaviour in Westminster. But political scandal also makes brilliant fodder for novels. Corrupt, egomaniacal characters are natural-born protagonists. The historic corridors of parliament provide a cloistered, detail-rich setting. A culture of secrecy creates inevitable tension and intrigue. None of this goes unnoticed by the leagues of politicians, aides and journalists who pass through the system, watching the sagas unfold first-hand, and then decide to write novels about it. This sequel to A Very British Coup by the former MP for Sunderland South is set in post-Brexit Britain. Published in 2019, parts of the novel feel clairvoyant: “Brexit Britain was a gloomy place. True, the Armageddon that some had prophesied had not occurred, but neither had the economic miracle promised by the Brexiteers. The value of the pound had fallen steadily against the euro, the dollar and the yuan.”