Chuka Umunna is our cover star this month. He has the style, but has he got the substance? Get your hands on a copy and read Amber Elliott's interview to find out.

Inside the May issue of Total Politics, on the newsstands today, you will find:

  • Interview with the shadow business secretary. Chuka Umunna discusses meeting Tony Blair for advice and why Michael Heseltine is a role model
    “He’s one of our most successful living Labour Party leaders, having won three general elections. Of course we should be getting advice from Tony Blair”
     
  • Interview with Eric Pickles, communities and local government secretary on rubbish, party donations and his role as the 'anti-posh' Conservative
    "You would have thought that I’d issued some weird pronouncement… that I was suggesting that councils slaughter the first-born"
     
  • Duncan Brack on life as Chris Huhne’s special adviser including the coalition’s arguments over Europe
    "Arguing with SpAds in other departments took up a surprising amount of my time - and mostly it wasn't that productive"
     
  • George Pascoe-Watson speaks to Downing Street’s strategists to discover No 10’s plans for the Queen’s Speech
    "It is Oliver Letwin's baby, the Queen's Speech. He is described by the PM as 'the government's mainframe computer'"
     
  • Dan Hodges finds out why Labour’s older generation of MPs feel ignored and highlights the 2010 intake who are rated by their colleagues
    "One MP says: 'It's fair to say the attitude of a few of the older guys is, 'Ok, we're going to sit back and see if Ed's kids sink or swim'"

Also inside:

  • Labour MP Iain Wright on British manufacturing: "Britain has never atempted to create the close partnership between government, the banking industry and industry that exists in Germany"
  • Is UKIP an electoral threat? Party leader Nigel Farage and Conservative MP Helen Grant disagree
     
  • Why Westminster needs to improve its attitude towards mental health - Kirsty Buchanan investigates why there is silence around the issue that could leave MPs suffering alone. She also speaks to the deputy prime minister who says: "Too often these experiences are swept under the carpet"
  • Total History: How the Union Jack became our flag - Nick Groom looks back at the troubled process to create a flag representing Great Britain
  • Top Ten Party Political Tunes
  • MP of the Month is Robert Halfon for his campaign against soaring petrol prices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Chuka Umunna, Eric Pickles, Issue 47, May issue