Bodley Head lands Pogrund and Maguire's 'inside account' of Labour under Corbyn

The Bodley Head has scooped the “definitive inside account” of Labour’s rise and demise under Jeremy Corbyn, written by journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire.

Will Hammond, deputy publishing director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Victoria Hobbs at A M Heath for Left Out, to be published in hardback this September.

Using access throughout the party and Corbyn’s inner circle, the book will reveal the true story of Labour’s transformation. Moving from Corbyn’s zenith at the 2017 election to the party’s 2019 ballot box disaster and subsequent leadership contest, the volume promises to “reveal a party riven by infighting, factionalism and crisis”.

The blurb explains: “As well as an authoritative account of the war within Labour over its Brexit policy and whether to back the calling of a general election, it will shed dramatic new light on what was happening behind the scenes during the antisemitism scandal and the formation of the break-away Independent Group, as well as the plots, failed coups and secret negotiations that were taking place throughout the 2019 general election campaign itself. Ultimately, it will help explain Labour’s collapse at the polls and reveal a party that has fundamentally shifted on its axis, with profound implications for its long-term future.”

Pogrund is a political correspondent for the Sunday Times where he has helped lead the newspaper’s coverage of Labour under Corbyn. At the 2019 general election, he revealed recordings of Corbyn candidly discussing strategy with party staff, Labour’s slogan and election grid, and its secret list of target seats. Since then, he has disclosed Corbyn’s list of peerage nominations and legacy-building strategy. He was 2018 Laurence Stern fellow at the Washington Post, and 2017 Young Journalist of the Year at the Press Awards.

Maguire is the New Statesman’s political correspondent and reports extensively on the Labour Party, including recent interviews with shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey and the former Labour MP Robert Kilroy-Silk. He is a regular commentator on topics including Labour and Brexit for national TV and radio. He previously worked in Westminster for the Times and Observer, and won the 2016 Anthony Howard Award for young journalists.