‘Westminster is a corrupting place to come to’
◆ Cleo Watson, a former aide to Boris Johnson, talks to Hannah Stephenson about the inspiration for her funny and satirical debut novel, Whips
Boris Johnson’s former adviser Cleo Watson knows better than most what goes on in the corridors of power at Westminster.
Working at No 10, firstly with Theresa May and then with Johnson, opened her eyes to the daily drama at the heart of government, offering her a bird’s eye view of everything which goes on behind closed doors, as well as what is seen in front of the cameras.
Unsurprisingly, there’s been a buzz around her debut novel, Whips, a sexy romp set in the run-up to a party leadership race, in the vein of Jilly Cooper but set in the world of politics – and featuring all the bravado and back-stabbing which goes with it.
It centres on three friends from university who try to make their way in the Westminster bubble. Bobby is a researcher for a Tory MP, Jess is a political journalist and Eva (like Watson was) is a government adviser.
Within the first few pages, a randy female minister of state is having desk sex in a Westminster office with an accommodating companion, who witheringly suggests she stops texting while they’re in the act. It’s reminiscent of Jackie Collins, but with the chimes of Big Ben echoing in the background.
“There’s plenty of opportunity for it to happen, partly because of the way the buildings are designed, partly because you have party conferences and summer parties and late votes, where people are drinking wine with each other.”
Watson, 34, Johnson’s former co-deputy chief of staff, explains that she just wanted to have fun, to produce a satire that went beyond reality, with strong women at the heart of the piece.
“I just liked the idea of women controlling the tipping point and the guys obliviously stumbling forward,” she says. “In reality, there are a lot of men rolling around Westminster with quite fragile egos, who are very easily manipulated, and it’s a corrupting place to come to if you haven’t got your wits about you.”
The author stresses that this is a work of fiction, but there are some pretty familiar characters. Percy Cross, for example, is an ex-prime minister who resigned in disgrace and is bumbling, charismatic and gaffe-prone, spending his time writing biographies of his favourite historical figures.
She says of Johnson: “I think he’s as complicated as the rest of us, if not more so. He has the kind of motivations that are punishing in their own way. I don’t know when he feels peaceful.
“He was fun to work for, could be interesting, but obviously very frustrating as well, and inconsistent. Having worked for him and Theresa May, you couldn’t work for people more different, with different strengths and weaknesses.”
In her fiction she paints the outgoing PM, Madeleine Ford, who her colleagues are ganging up against – mostly behind her back – as a more sympathetic character who remains steadfast and honourable despite it all. Watson admits that it was difficult not to write her without alluding to May.
“I don’t know how much of that is a reaction to when I was working with her [as junior political adviser in 2017] when she was working so hard. She had the worst kind of parliamentary arithmetic. I thought she was a really nice person and was misunderstood in the media.
“She had a lot of quite aggressive sexist media written about her, but also her own MPS saying terrible things in public.
When May decided to step down, things felt quite peaceful for a while, Watson recalls.
“She had time to say goodbye to people, having short meetings with each adviser individually to say thank you for [their] work. I don’t think anyone’s had that before.” It’s no surprise that May was at Watson’s recent book launch in central London.
After May left No 10, Watson was asked by Dominic Cummings to join him as co-adviser to Johnson. It led to higher media scrutiny, which she found difficult, although her friends and family were able to separate her political profile from her private life, she recalls.
She left Downing Street in November 2020, two weeks after Cummings, then helped with the COP26 climate summit, but by the end of 2021 was pursuing full-time writing. She keeps in touch with Cummings but not with Johnson.
One of six children, Watson grew up in south Wales, where her parents ran a business language school. She studied politics and economics at Cardiff University, and was given the chance to spend a year in the US, where she worked on president Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
Returning home, she worked on the Vote Leave referendum campaign.
“I was ambitious and wanted to work in campaigns. I honestly didn’t think we would win. But once we did win, I thought, OK, I now feel like this has to be a success.”
She then clinched a job in May’s political office during the Tory general election campaign.
Today, she lives in London with her barrister husband, Tom Haggie, and would eventually like to return to south Wales. She’ll continue with writing and there’s a sequel in the offing.
But she adds: “Some people, when they leave politics, still have an itch left to scratch. I’m scratched down to the bone.”
Whips is published by Corsair, £20. Available now