“There is much … in Bloody Panico with which most rational people will agree, whatever their politics … If the next incarnation of the Conservative party doesn’t mend its pretty abominable ways, Wheatcroft really will have to write the obituary.”
—Simon Heffer, Telegraph
“Very lucid”
—John Harris, Guardian
“Wheatcroft is particularly alert to the way enduring labels obscure underlying realities. Don’t be misled by the name, for the Conservative Party has rarely functioned as a simple, straightforward embodiment of Tory principles and prejudices.”
—Colin Kidd, New Statesman
“Wheatcroft is a splendid and convincing phrasemaker … and enjoyably feline in his malice.”
—Philip Hensher, Spectator
“Trenchant”
—Mary Kenny, Irish Independent
“Enlightening”
—Andrew Gimson, Conservative Home
“Masterly”
—Sarah Ingham, Conservative Home
“Fast-moving and powerful … [Wheatcroft] blends points from Tory history, which stretches back nearly 350 years, with contemporary events to enhance understanding of what has gone wrong.”
—Lord Lexden, The House
“Enjoyably bilious … [Wheatcroft] delves into the party’s history, revealing a unique ability for reinvention that now seems to have deserted it.”
—Choice
“Magnificently damning … [Wheatcroft] surveys the last 14 years with wit and anger, arguing that the Ides of March have come for the Tories: they’re facing an existential crisis that demands real boldness and imagination, not cheap platitudes and sloganeering.”
—Alexander Larman, Telegraph, Best Books of the Year 2024