Reviews
Mike sails through this lively campaign diary, naming names, and telling it as it is, warts and all. It is all done with good humour and delightful candour, but no-one is spared from criticism if deserved, friend or foe. It all amounts to a very enjoyable read which throws a new light on many aspects of present-day Welsh and British politics, and the way the press and media deal with it, and the author has some pertinent things to say about Plaid Cymru itself.
- Dafydd Iwan
There is good reason for the Liberal Democrats' reputation as the dirtiest fighters in politics, as this entertaining election diary makes painfully clear. A crash course in the brutal tribalism of Welsh politics, The Greasy Poll is the sobering story of what happens when a gay Englishman becomes a Plaid Cymru candidate in one of their top target seats.It was never going to be easy, but no-one foresaw such a filthy fight, nor so many problems close to home. Mike Parker's book should be compulsory reading for anyone from outside of the political bubble who is contemplating standing for election. It will soon cure them of the idea.
- Iain Dale, Political Commentator and Broadcaster
In this portrait of the political badlands of Ceredigion, Mike Parker is at his self-deprecating, witty, outraged and excoriating best. Sharply alert to the complexity and contradictions of the constituency he hoped to represent at Westminster – its beauty and poverty, its politeness and viciousness, its rich international culture and stultifying insularity – he shows here just what we in Ceredigion lost by failing to elect him. He returns as a writer with this damning, unflinching exposé of the foul practices of politicians, political parties and the press when an outsider threatens entrenched, corrupt power.
- Jasmine Donahaye, Author, Poert and Associate Professor at Swansea University
I was so absorbed in this book that I could not put it down until I had finished it in mid-afternoon. I did not feel the need to read it a second time for the purposes of this review, as it had left such a lasting impression on me.
- Richard E Huws, Gwales
Mike Parker is honest and endearing as a guide to Welsh politics. He isn't afraid to open up about his ambitions, mistakes and the double-speak which he fears being consumed by. He is wonderfully honest about Plaid Cymru, the leadership of Leanne Wood, the thwarted ambition and pomposity of its one elder statesman in Dafydd Elis Thomas and there are revealing cameos from other "stars" in the Welsh Nationalist political firmament, notably Elin Jones and Cynog Dafis.
- Richard Lewis Davies, New Welsh Review
This book is by turns funny, thrilling and terrifying. It's the day-by-day story of idealism as it meets political reality in a Wales with a dishonest media and craven politicians. Mike Parker's colonoscopy of Welsh politics will make you laugh, and it may make you angry, but above all it will make you want to change things.
- Patrick McGuinness, Oxford Professor, Booker longlisted author and poet
This is a compelling, readable account of one candidate's 2015 general election...The Greasy Poll is not likely to make many people want to put themselves forwards as political candidates. And Mike Parker's experience raises particularly troubling questions about whether people who have tried to think and write seriously about society's problems can actually step into the realms of electoral politics, without having their previous words distorted out of all recognition and used against them. This is a very entertaining book, about a very interesting election. But it is not always a very comfortable read.
- Roger Scully, Professor of Political Science, Cardiff University
