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Anyone interested in British politics should read this book. This is not simply the story of a scandal, it is a very reflective, often personal, account of crumbling institutions that would eventually lead to the start of a shift in the Westminster culture of deference. Adopting a historical and anthropological approach, Crewe and Walker take the reader into a journey packed with detail and research, which explains why the scandal happened. With enviable insight and access to Members, journalists and officials, the book makes for a fascinating read. --Cristina Leston-Bandeira, University of Leeds For many academics and commentators the MPs expenses scandal was little more than the latest instalment in a historical litany of crises, failures and fiascos in British politics. Emma Crewe and Andrew Walker challenge this perspective in a magisterial and compelling account that reveals exactly why the MPs expenses scandal was an extraordinary episode in British political history that continues to cast a long and dark shadow over parliament and politicians a decade later. --Matthew Flinders, University of Sheffield Written in an accessible and engaging style, An Extraordinary Scandal not only takes us through the story of the UK parliament's expenses scandal, but also makes an important political point: we dismiss our representatives and representative institutions at our peril! By situating the 'scandal' into a broader context of the financial crash, the digital revolution, the increase in MPs' constituency work and the rise of the audit culture to discipline employees, Crewe and Walker point to the crisis of the politics of information that is important to understanding and engaging with all our political institutions, including parliament. This engagement, they show, does not have to be at the cost of dismissal of MPs, their work as our representatives and neither of parliament as the institution that holds the Executive to account. We need to go beyond seeking only villains and heroes - we need good representatives held to account and aspiring to do better; but we also need parliament as bulwark against a rampant Executive. This book does both and is therefore an important contribution to understanding our political institutions and those who inhabit them. --Shirin M Rai, author of 'Performing Representation: Women Members in the Indian Parliament'

"""Anyone interested in British politics should read this book. This is not simply the story of a scandal, it is a very reflective, often personal, account of crumbling institutions that would eventually lead to the start of a shift in the Westminster culture of deference. Adopting a historical and anthropological approach, Crewe and Walker take the reader into a journey packed with detail and research, which explains why the scandal happened. With enviable insight and access to Members, journalists and officials, the book makes for a fascinating read.""--Cristina Leston-Bandeira, University of Leeds ""For many academics and commentators the MPs expenses scandal was little more than the latest instalment in a historical litany of crises, failures and fiascos in British politics. Emma Crewe and Andrew Walker challenge this perspective in a magisterial and compelling account that reveals exactly why the MPs expenses scandal was an extraordinary episode in British political history that continues to cast a long and dark shadow over parliament and politicians a decade later.""--Matthew Flinders, University of Sheffield ""Written in an accessible and engaging style, An Extraordinary Scandal not only takes us through the story of the UK parliament's expenses scandal, but also makes an important political point: we dismiss our representatives and representative institutions at our peril! By situating the 'scandal' into a broader context of the financial crash, the digital revolution, the increase in MPs' constituency work and the rise of the audit culture to discipline employees, Crewe and Walker point to the crisis of the politics of information that is important to understanding and engaging with all our political institutions, including parliament. This engagement, they show, does not have to be at the cost of dismissal of MPs, their work as our representatives and neither of parliament as the institution that holds the Executive to account. We need to go beyond seeking only villains and heroes - we need good representatives held to account and aspiring to do better; but we also need parliament as bulwark against a rampant Executive. This book does both and is therefore an important contribution to understanding our political institutions and those who inhabit them.""--Shirin M Rai, author of 'Performing Representation: Women Members in the Indian Parliament' ""There are many gems in this rich book, but the most striking part of An Extraordinary Scandal is the emphasis Crewe and Walker place on the role of legislative governance--that is, the arrangements for the management of the Commons and the relationship between MPs and the institution.""-- ""LSE Review of Books"""

"""Anyone interested in British politics should read this book. This is not simply the story of a scandal, it is a very reflective, often personal, account of crumbling institutions that would eventually lead to the start of a shift in the Westminster culture of deference. Adopting a historical and anthropological approach, Crewe and Walker take the reader into a journey packed with detail and research, which explains why the scandal happened. With enviable insight and access to Members, journalists and officials, the book makes for a fascinating read.""--Cristina Leston-Bandeira, University of Leeds ""LSE Review of Books"" ""For many academics and commentators the MPs expenses scandal was little more than the latest instalment in a historical litany of crises, failures and fiascos in British politics. Emma Crewe and Andrew Walker challenge this perspective in a magisterial and compelling account that reveals exactly why the MPs expenses scandal was an extraordinary episode in British political history that continues to cast a long and dark shadow over parliament and politicians a decade later.""--Matthew Flinders, University of Sheffield ""LSE Review of Books"" ""There are many gems in this rich book, but the most striking part of An Extraordinary Scandal is the emphasis Crewe and Walker place on the role of legislative governance--that is, the arrangements for the management of the Commons and the relationship between MPs and the institution.""-- ""LSE Review of Books"" ""Written in an accessible and engaging style, An Extraordinary Scandal not only takes us through the story of the UK parliament's expenses scandal, but also makes an important political point: we dismiss our representatives and representative institutions at our peril! By situating the 'scandal' into a broader context of the financial crash, the digital revolution, the increase in MPs' constituency work and the rise of the audit culture to discipline employees, Crewe and Walker point to the crisis of the politics of information that is important to understanding and engaging with all our political institutions, including parliament. This engagement, they show, does not have to be at the cost of dismissal of MPs, their work as our representatives and neither of parliament as the institution that holds the Executive to account. We need to go beyond seeking only villains and heroes - we need good representatives held to account and aspiring to do better; but we also need parliament as bulwark against a rampant Executive. This book does both and is therefore an important contribution to understanding our political institutions and those who inhabit them.""--Shirin M Rai, author of 'Performing Representation: Women Members in the Indian Parliament' ""LSE Review of Books"""

Author Information

Emma Crewe is a Principal Investigator at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS. She is the author of Lords of Parliament: Manners, Rituals and Politics (2005), The House of Commons: An Anthropology of MPs at Work (2015) and Commons and Lords: A Short Anthropology of Parliament (2015); Andrew Walker was a senior official at the House of Commons for 20 years until 2016. He was Director General of Resources, and was the Board member responsible for the Fees Office until it was abolished in 2010. He now advises parliaments overseas on finance and HR issues.

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