Biteback snaps up fourth diary from Mullin

Biteback Publishing has acquired the fourth volume of diaries from Chris Mullin, journalist and former Labour MP for Sunderland South.  

Olivia Beattie, editorial director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Didn’t You Use to Be Chris Mullin? from Caroline Dawnay and Sophie Scard at United Agents. It will publish in April 2023, accompanied by "a major publicity campaign".

"Picking up where he left off in 2010’s Decline and Fall, celebrated diarist Chris Mullin returns with his trademark irreverence and keen eye for the absurd to chronicle the turbulent last decade of the second Elizabethan era," the synopsis reads. 

"Didn’t You Use to Be Chris Mullin? charts the collapse of New Labour, the long years of austerity politics, the highs and lows of Brexit, the rise and fall of Jeremy Corbyn and no fewer than four Tory prime ministers, culminating in the death of the Queen. Wise, witty and deeply perceptive, Mullin paints a vivid portrait of our recent political history."

Mullin was Labour MP for Sunderland South from 1987 until he stood down at the 2010 general election. As a journalist in the 1980s, he successfully campaigned for the release of the Birmingham Six. In parliament, he chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee and was a minister in three departments. He is the author of three widely acclaimed diaries, a memoir, Hinterland (Profile) and four novels, including A Very British Coup (Serpent’s Tail).

Mullin said: "Although I was in two minds about whether to retire from parliament in 2010, these past 12 years have been what my old friend Tony Benn would have called “a blaze of autumn sunshine”. Had I remained, I might have spent another 10 years ya-booing on the back benches to no effect whatsoever. Instead, they have been among the happiest and most fulfilling years of my life. I am grateful to Biteback for allowing me to share them with a wider audience."

Beattie said: "Those who’ve read Chris’s razor-sharp observations of the New Labour years will need no introduction to his wry, self-deprecating insight. For those less familiar, this new volume is a treat waiting to be discovered. With his warmth, candour and humour, Chris makes a reassuringly steadfast companion in this journey through 12 years of political chaos."