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Sebastian Whale on Muck Rack

Sebastian Whale

Verified
London, United Kingdom
As seen in: Medium, Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Die Welt, Substack, POLITICO Europe, The New Statesman, The Yorkshire Post, PoliticsHome, Business Insider Polska and
Freelance journalist and author. The Usual Channels out 25-09-2025. Ex @POLITICOEurope, @TheHousemag, @politicshome.
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Articles

Labour MPs don't need coddling. They need leadership

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By Sebastian Whale Verified
| Substack
As their legend wanes, and without the coercing powers of old, which helped to compensate for shortcomings over at No. 10 Downing Street, the whips derive their authority predominantly from the prime minister. One way of measuring a leader’s strength is through the size of their parliamentary majority. Another way is through buy-in for, and intelligibility of, their strategy, their narrative, their raison d’être. Keir Starmer excelled in one of these tests, but failed miserably on the other.
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The Christmas Whip

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By Sebastian Whale Verified
| Substack
Most studies of the whips touch on a few standout characters. Walter Harrison is deservedly top of the list. The former Labour deputy chief whip has many anecdotes to his name, some less savoury than others. He is also perhaps the man most responsible for keeping the Labour government afloat from 1974-79. Another name that will crop up is that of David Lightbown. His victims, who weren’t always fellow Conservatives, sarcastically dubbed him the Caring Whip.
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I Read 100 Books in 2025. This is What I Learnt.

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By Sebastian Whale Verified
| Substack
I’ve often been what you might call a compulsive reader. Perhaps not in the conventional sense. What would happen is this: I would store up a list of books I wanted to read until finally I would order them in a blaze, consume four or five back-to-back, and feel unduly proud. Sometimes they’d disappear in an afternoon, absorbed in one voracious sitting. Then, despite being reminded of the joy to be found within the bound pages, I’d lose momentum. Put on a series.
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