Now We Have Your Attention

Book excerpt: 'One of the most important and compelling books I've ever read...If you want to understand why we are in this crisis, listen to the voices all too often airbrushed from the political conversation' Owen Jones Now We Have Your Attention makes sense of what is happening in British politics by taking a radically different perspective: the people's. From a warehouse in Manchester to a pub in Essex, from the outskirts of Glasgow to a racecourse in Durham, Jack Shenker uncovers the root causes of our current crisis and the future direction of British politics through the lives of ordinary individuals. Taking us deep into communities hollowed out by austerity and decades of economic disadvantage, among a generation crippled by precarious work and unaffordable housing, he shows where the chaos at Westminster ultimately springs from - and how disillusionment with it is fuelling a passionate engagement with politics of a completely different kind: local, personal, effective and utterly fearless. Joining a 'McStrike' protest on a roundabout in Cambridge and a gathering of the London Renters' Union in the aftermath of Grenfell, meeting hard-right bloggers in Newcastle and climate change protesters in Brighton, Shenker draws on exceptional access to campaign groups, activist movements and grassroots gatherings throughout the country - including unique access to Momentum, who have re-radicalised the Labour party from the outside in - to introduce us to the citizens and leaders of tomorrow: people who are changing things for themselves. Inspiring and terrifying in equal measure, Now We Have Your Attention uncovers a revolutionary transformation in attitudes and behaviour, and a future that will shape us all.