All to Play For

A Waterstones Best Politics Book of the Year 2023
All to Play For, the anticipated follow-up edition to Going for Broke: The Rise of Rishi Sunak
★★★★✰ –Daily Telegraph
“The overarching theme of Lord Ashcroft's revised and updated biography of Rishi Sunak is a portrayal of a politician trying to do the right thing.”— George Parker, The House
“The family history of both Sunak and his in-laws is fascinating and frequently quite moving.” — Times Literary Supplement
“Ashcroft has dug up a great deal of detail.” — Eastern Eye PRAISE FOR GOING FOR BROKE
“The fullest account yet written of Sunak the rising star.” — Andrew Gimson, ConservativeHome
“Clearly written, lively and perceptive, and contains much insight on the complex world of Tory politics.” — Vernon Bogdanor, Prospect Magazine
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The speed of Rishi Sunak's advance to 10 Downing Street is without precedent in modern British politics. In mid-2019, he was an unknown junior minister; seven months later, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer; and by October 2022, he had secured the highest office in the land. Aged forty-two, he was Britain's youngest Prime Minister in more than 200 years.
Michael Ashcroft's biography — first published in 2020 and now fully revised and updated — charts Sunak's ascent to the University of Oxford, the City of London, Silicon Valley and Westminster before assuming the most powerful job in the country in chaotic circumstances.
It is the story of a clever and hard-working son of immigrant parents who marries an heiress and makes a fortune of his own; a polished southerner who wins over the voters of North Yorkshire; a fiscal conservative who becomes the biggest-spending Chancellor in history; and a fastidious political operator tasked with reuniting the Conservative Party and repairing an economy in flux.
Casting new light on Sunak's tense working relationship with his predecessor, Boris Johnson, All to Play For shows what makes him tick ahead of a general election whose outcome will have profound consequences for Britain.