Members Behaving Badly by Debbie Kilroy is an alternative history of the nation as seen through the stories of fifty-two rogue MPs who served in the House of Commons between 1603 and 1945. It’s an interesting framework and a clever idea. Research suggests that trust in public institutions and the probity of politicians is currently at, or close to, a record low. So, does the knowledge that bad behaviour in high office is nothing new serve to depress us – some things never change – or do these historic tales of appalling crimes and misdemeanours console us that standards of integrity in public life have actually improved?
In the introduction, Debbie Kilroy gives us a concise summary of parliament’s birth and development from 1236 onwards; its establishment was unintentional and its progress towards maturity was haphazard. The fifty-two miscreants whose stories she has chosen to tell are but a select few out of hundreds of potential candidates, selected because they are fascinating both personally but also because they embody some important aspect of British society, culture or ideals, or their behaviour gives us a prism through which to view national events.
The story starts in 1603 with the union of the crowns of Scotland and England under King James VI and the tale of the ambitious Sir Robert Carey, who drove both himself and his horse almost to destruction to be the first to deliver the news of Elizabeth I’s death to King James. Carey was hoping for reward from the new King and initially he was indeed favoured with a position in James’ household, only to be downgraded later and lose his estates into the bargain. It’s a salutary tale of the dangers of greed and self-promotion, the first of many.
The fast-paced narrative then races through the first decades of Stuart rule towards the Civil Wars. Amongst the truly gruesome tales of violence and destruction are lighter moments, such as the quarrel between the two drunken royalist commanders Lord Culpeper and Sir Henry Slingsby, “like two cocks at the end of a battle, not able to stand well, offered and pecked at one another…” The Restoration era boasts sex pests, streakers, and road rage. We move on through financial chicanery, military corruption, malfeasance and the ever-present murder of rivals. It’s a hugely entertaining story but also genuinely shocking to hear what some MPs literally got away with.
A number of popular history books are now following the style of presenting stories that are witty, entertaining, and give bite-sized, focused chapters to capture a general audience and our short attention spans. Whilst the approach is a gateway for getting people interested in history by making the narrative accessible and humorous, the challenge is often to balance this concise approach with high-quality research and depth of debate. Members Behaving Badly achieves this brilliantly, illuminating broad swathes of the nation’s history through focussing on specific tales of MPs behaving very improperly indeed.
Nicola Cornick is the author of over 40 novels including the forthcoming The Fourth Queen, published in May 2026.
