Paul Flynn: The Natural Storyteller

The great communicator doing what he does best

PART-POLITICIAN, part-poet, Paul Flynn has been arguably Wales’ foremost independent-thinking MP over recent decades.

Whilst his politics may not be palatable to all, his passion for his beloved Newport constituency and the causes he champions is undeniable. He has been one of the most vociferous voices in parliament against both the wars in Afghanistan and on drugs. The Unusual Suspect is his fourth book published and provides an honest, touching and humorous insight into the life of this colourful backbencher.

With much of contemporary politics infected with career politicians, no one could argue that Paul Flynn is a man without a varied life experience. In the years before his election to parliament in 1987, his jobs ranged from bus driver to industrial chemist to radio DJ. He has stayed grounded throughout and is in touch with his constituents both young and old. Unlike many of his generation, Paul Flynn is a rabid technophile, and since gaining the accolade of Best MP’s website in 2001, his online efforts have gone from strength to strength. His daily blog, begun in 2007 has now amassed over 10,000 responses and the winner of the Wales Yearbook’s Best MP in Wales in 2009 shows no sign of slowing down.

A natural storyteller, the author chronicles the events he has witnessed. From sharing an office with fellow Welsh MPs in the early days in Westminster, to his battles with and against the government, he peppers his tales with amusing anecdotes from his formative years and parliamentary life. He details his early distaste for Blairism in opposition, and later, we understand the reasons for his abhorrence of the New Labour Project, with its gradual erosion of the values and principles which underpin the ideologies of the “True” Labour Party known to many in Wales.

A proud Welshman and Welsh-speaker who was received into the Gorsedd of the Bards in 1989, his animosity for the Third Way became insurmountable when Tony Blair decided to hold a new referendum for devolution in Wales. He describes it as “one of the most severe blows in my political life.” Like many pro-devolutionists within the Party, he felt personally betrayed.

“The Labour Party banner under which I marched (in 1951) read ‘Senedd i Gymru (Parliament for Wales). It did not read, ‘An Assembly for Wales’ or ‘Half-arsed Parliament for Wales’ or even ‘Elcos for the People’.”

Paul Flynn with the author (right) during a recent trip down memory lane

It was enough to drive him to consider resigning the Party whip, and would not be the last time that he would come up against the Party Leader. As with the scoring in his previous book Dragons Led by Poodles on the Welsh Labour leader stitch up in 1998, the author gives his verdict on other colleagues such as Kim Howells, Alan Simpson, John Hutton and Lembit Opik. Some are worthy to be lauded as ‘Icons’ while others are lampooned as ‘knaves’.

He also shares with us the intensely moving accounts of the tragedies in his personal life. Indeed, the book contains many tender tributes to his beloved wife, Sam, to whom he credits his political success. And if you can read of Sam’s own success in beating breast cancer without your eyes even moistening, then you must be made of stone.

In light of the recent expenses and cash for influence scandals, it is both reassuring and heartening to read of his adherence to the Backbencher’s Ten Commandments (published in his first book, Commons Knowledge in 1997) that he devised upon entering Parliament. His mantra of “neglecting the rich, the obsessed and the tabloids, and seeking out the silent voices” is one which sadly too many MPs must now wish they had listened to.

Oddly, the book contains few references to the current Party leadership. It’s hard not to suppose that this is with an eye to avoiding controversy before the recent election. Whatever else may be said of Paul Flynn, he remains faithful to his Party under trying times. The book also suffers somewhat from being arranged according to theme rather than chronologically, which can be confusing when the narrative jumps from the personal to the political.

Nevertheless, it is a beautifully written account of the life so far of this award-winning backbencher, and a must-read for anyone with an interest in politics both inside and outside the Westminster bubble.

The Unusual Suspect is published by Biteback Books.