> Skip to content
Play sample
  • Published: 6 February 2025
  • ISBN: 9781529939439
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 480

Get In

The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer





The explosive, definitive, behind-the-scenes account of Labour and its general election in 2024, from the authors of Left Out

Get In is the definitive behind-the-scenes account of Labour’s brutal reinvention and dramatic return to power under Keir Starmer.

From electoral wipeout in 2019 to landslide victory in 2024 and on into Labour’s first hundred days in government, Get In is a blistering narrative exposé of the most significant and ruthless political transformation in a generation. At its heart is Morgan McSweeney, a mastermind of political subterfuge and author of a strategy, years in the planning, to eviscerate the party, bury the left and rebuild it as a vote-winning machine. In Starmer he saw the perfect vessel for his vision: a man with no political identity but burning with ambition and a single all-consuming principle: to win.

Drawing on unrivalled access throughout the party and extensive leaks of internal party documents and WhatsApp messages, Get In shows how together they betrayed and marginalised Corbyn and his followers, then forged a path in which promises, and at times principles, were readily discarded in pursuit of power. From the near-fatal experience of Beergate to the furore over Israel and Gaza and Labour’s chaotic entry into government under Sue Gray, we are in the room as colleagues considered which of them would run to replace Starmer, as Angela Rayner fought back against demotion and struggled to prove herself in the eyes of the British establishment, and as the leader’s inner circle repeatedly crushed their opponents inside and outside of the party.

Richly peopled with the major figures of Labour present and past, as well as those who were pulling the strings of power out of sight, this is the coming-of-age story of Britain's government and a parable for the politics of our times: in an era in which faith in politics has plummeted, this is how to game your way to the ultimate prize. But what on earth do you do when you get there?

  • Published: 6 February 2025
  • ISBN: 9781529939439
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 480

About the authors

Patrick Maguire

Patrick Maguire is the New Statesman’s political correspondent. He previously worked in Westminster for The Times and the Observer, and won the 2016 Anthony Howard Award for young journalists.

Gabriel Pogrund

Gabriel Pogrund is a political correspondent for The Sunday Times. He was 2018 Laurence Stern fellow at the Washington Post, and 2017 Young Journalist of the Year at the Press Awards.

Praise for Get In

Without question the political book of the year. With revelations on every page, Get In is the book about Keir Starmer we have all been waiting for, and it is impossible to fully understand this government unless you read it

Tim Shipman

Stuffed full of scoops, this is the moment-by-moment story of Labour's dramatic journey back to power, the plots and the personal relationships that drove Starmer into Downing Street, revealing who's really in charge

Laura Kuenssberg

A gripping tale of how one man went from political obscurity to running the country – and took Keir Starmer along for the ride. The revelations made me gasp, wince and wonder how the next few years will unfold

Matt Chorley

A gripping story of raw politics and ruthless men from two of Britain's best young journalists

Helen Lewis

Fascinating . . . devastating . . . full of lively stories . . . this is certainly a book you need to read to understand this government

Andrew Marr, New Statesman

Revealing . . . pacy . . . dispassionate but informed . . . a cracking read

Robert Shrimsley, Financial Times

Unsparing . . . Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund’s brilliant new history of Labour’s path back to power . . . [contains] so many golden nuggets . . . on almost every page . . . it gives you a depth and richness to understanding the tensions within the Starmer Project

Michael Gove, Spectator

Pogrund and Maguire . . . bring it all to life . . . If you have questions about Starmer’s budding reign . . . expect many of them to be answered

Kara Kennedy, Telegraph ****

A fascinating new book . . . telling the inside story of Keir Starmer’s leadership . . . shines a light on the relationship between leading politicians and their influential advisers

Andrew Grice, Independent

The compelling story of how one intensely motivated man grabbed control of a broken party, eviscerated its left and ruthlessly reforged Labour into a power-hungry machine . . . extremely well-sourced . . . dramatic detail . . . a rattling tale terrifically well told

Andrew Rawnsley, Observer, *Book of the Week*

Gripping, exhaustively researched and fast-paced . . . cutting one-liners . . . nuanced character studies . . . scenes are recreated novelistically . . . it reads as if the authors were alongside McSweeney and Starmer as they grappled with multiple crises

Jason Cowley, Sunday Times, *Book of the Week*

A superb work of contemporary history which defines the Starmer premiership

Peter Oborne

Compelling

John Harris, Guardian

A remarkable piece of journalism

Rory Stewart

As excruciating as it is insightful

Economist

Two serious journalists who have provided an extraordinarily detailed and sometimes bloodstained account of Labour's transformation over the past five years

Tom Baldwin, Guardian

Maguire and Pogrund . . . fish out the juicy niblets and scoops . . . revealing . . . [a] compelling account of what it took for Labour to get back, get in — and what it will require to stay there

Anne McElvoy, Evening Standard

Impeccably written, impeccably researched, impeccably sourced

Lewis Goodall, The News Agents

Comprehensive

Private Eye

There are revelations on virtually every page of this addictive and compelling book... Maguire and Pogrund are impressive political journalists'

Steve Richards, Literary Review

Detailed, scrupulously reported . . . Get In is invaluable for anyone wondering how on earth we got here . . . Revelations come thick and fast

Morning Star

An extraordinary story, brilliantly told . . . Through sweating their sources Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund have popped the bonnet of a political party and exposed what lies beneath

Jon Cruddas, Politics Home

This is an astonishing feat of journalism. The writers obtained a remarkable level of access, and in the end, you feel that this is as close to an accurate retelling of Starmer’s rise as anyone could have given

Prospect

A tale of fixes, fiddling and factionalism…brilliantly told… [and] great fun… It is no small achievement… Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund have popped the bonnet of a political party and exposed what lies beneath

House Magazine
penguin pop image
penguin pop image