Seb Whale

Delighted to reveal the cover for my book, The Usual Channels. Out 25-09-2025 @BitebackPub. Design by @jeremyphughes Pre-order: bitebackpublishing.com/books/the-usua…

@Mike_Indian Very glad to hear it, Mike! Hope you enjoy what’s to come 😊

Only a few pages in and I'm already enjoying it @sebwhale

Very grateful to @RalphBlackburn @yorkshirepost for this lovely piece on The Usual Channels in today’s paper Whipped into shape - murky world of politics laid bare pressreader.com/uk/yorkshire-p…

Some festive whipping cheer in @HackBlackburn’s Times diary this morning @BitebackPub thetimes.com/article/44a167…

The Christmas Whip A little ditty on David Lightbown, the marauding giant of a Tory whip dressed as Father Christmas. theusualchannels.substack.com/p/the-christma…

I Read 100 Books in 2025. This is What I Learnt open.substack.com/pub/whalemigra…

Keir Starmer and I need to get real Today you have to put yourself out there and make your case. Again and again and again. But the big question remains: what is it that you want to say? open.substack.com/pub/theusualch…

Not a good sign when you make into the consumer complaints column! theguardian.com/money/2025/dec…

A nice surprise - the Daily Mail had The Usual Channels as its book of the week in mid-November.

‘The book is a huge hit for any Westminster political junkie, and what makes it work is the feast of political anecdotes that pepper the 500-plus pages.’ So thrilled with Roger Alton’s review of The Usual Channels in @DailyMail dailymail.co.uk/home/books/art…

Inspired by @danbloom1's reporting on the Tories’ improved output in opposition, I’ve written about the ‘Fuck-Up Squad’, the Tory committee that wreaked havoc against the Jim Callaghan government in the late 70s. Is the old band back together? open.substack.com/pub/theusualch…

Reynolds’ appointment to the whips’ office reminded me of Tim Renton’s and Jacqui Smith’s - two last gasp Chief Whips that, coincidentally or not, proved a prime minister’s last open.substack.com/pub/theusualch…

As I wrote last week: ‘There’s no doubt that Reynolds is worthy of a place at the Cabinet table, an environment he is familiar with, but I doubt the Chief Whip’s chair at the far end feels natural, for him or for anyone else.’ open.substack.com/pub/theusualch…

Bested by an ex-Chief Whip An interview that went wrong. This week’s The Usual Channels Substack is out now! open.substack.com/pub/theusualch…

Great review in @DailyMail for Sebastian Whale’s The Usual Channels: “The book is a huge hit for any Westminster political junkie, and what makes it work is the feast of political anecdotes that pepper the 500-plus pages.” Congratulations @sebwhale! dailymail.co.uk/home/books/art…

‘The Tories were always better organised, their whipping arrangements more sophisticated, and their whole practice of dealing with the whips’ office was better.’ On Labour’s whipping inferiority complex - and why a new look team will be up against it open.substack.com/pub/theusualch…

From Jeremy Corbyn to Zarah Sultana, Major’s Eurosceptics to Boris’s 21, leaders have sometimes taken drastic action. But is removing the whip the right call? With exclusive reporting from my book, this week’s The Usual Channels Substack is out now theusualchannels.substack.com/p/to-strip-or-…

Blair didn’t remove the whip from Corbyn et al. Starmer did. But who was right? All this and more in The Usual Channels Substack theusualchannels.substack.com/p/to-strip-or-…

Cracking the Code: How the likes of @GylesB1, @mrJamesGraham, @philipjcowley et al cleared a path for a book on the whips' office The latest Usual Channels Substack is out now theusualchannels.substack.com/p/cracking-the…