Sam Radford

March 8, 2021

Book Notes: “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” by Jonny Oates

My wife, Rachel, got me I Never Promised You a Rose Garden for Christmas.

Truth told, I’d never heard of Jonny Oates, or this book before. And seeing the names of people endorsing it – Nick Clegg, Laura Kuenssberg, and Gary Gibbon – I assumed it was a purely political book.

This would have been fine; I’m quite happy dipping into a political biography. But when I read the description, I was instantly intrigued on a whole other level.

Much of the book is set in Africa. And, as the description points out, this is ‘a rare political memoir from a figure whose life before politics is every bit as gripping as their time in the corridors of power.’

Jonny Oates, as I discovered reading this book, went on to become Nick Clegg’s Chief of Staff. And his insights into the five years of Coalition government in the UK from 2010 to 2015 were fascinating. (One story involving George Osborne is particularly illuminating! Hint: He doesn’t come off looking good. Probably not that surprising...)

But it was his life before politics – running away from home to Addis Ababa aged fifteen, teaching in Zimbabwe (and becoming deputy head teacher aged eighteen), and, later, working in South Africa during the last year of Nelson Mandela’s presidency – that I enjoyed the most. 

It is also a very personal book. Oates shares his mental health struggles. And his coming to terms with his own sexuality. For someone who spent many years in political circles, this was refreshing and heartfelt.  

All told, this is an absorbing read that I enjoyed immensely. 

–Sam 

About Sam Radford

Husband, father, lover of books, writer, tech geek, sports fan, and pragmatic idealist from Sheffield, England.