Snakes and Ladders: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Politics

In the high-stakes world of politics, there are superb highs and terrible lows – and never more so than in the period since 2010, during which so much has changed. No one is better placed to give an insider’s view than the Rt. Hon. Dame Andrea Leadsom MP, who entered Parliament in the wake of both the financial crisis and the expenses scandal to experience at first hand the remarkable events that would follow.

From working cross-party on reform of the European Union to taking to the stage at Wembley as a key figure in the Leave campaign, through two leadership campaigns, Cabinet intrigue, squaring off against an increasingly erratic Speaker, founding a campaign to give babies the best start for life and securing a landmark Spending Review settlement, Leadsom’s story tracks the ups and downs of a political career and particularly some of the challenges for women MPs.

Leadsom shares the experience of what it was really like; how it felt to be in those extraordinary situations; and how, like a game of snakes and ladders, it is often about getting yourself into the right place at the right time.

Interviewer Sir Richard Ottaway

All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to early years charities.