Draft:The Gatekeeper (book)
2020 memoir by Kate Fall
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The Gatekeeper: Life at the Heart of No 10 is a memoir by Kate Fall, the deputy Downing Street chief of staff to British politician David Cameron. First published in 2020 by HarperCollins' HQ imprint,[1] the book covers Fall's experiences working with Cameron while they were in opposition and in government.
Content
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The Gatekeeper has three main parts, concentrating on Fall and Cameron's time in opposition; their time in government; and the background and aftermath of the 2016 referendum on the European Union.
In the preface, Fall explains that the title of the book stemmed from her role managing access to the Prime Minister: her desk was outside Cameron's office in 10 Downing Street. She began working at the Conservative Research Department in 1996 and for Cameron in 2001, prior to the election that year. She writes of her reflections on friendships in politics and her experiences as a woman in politics, warning that there was a risk that women are limited to "jobs that pay you to 'do things' rather than 'think things'".[1]: 8
After working for Michael Howard, Fall resumed working for Cameron in preparation for the 2005 leadership election. Cameron's campaign was aimed towards modernising the party, appealing to the general electorate instead of the right wing of the party, which was contrary to accepted wisdom. Cameron won the election, and they continued to modernise the image of the party by releasing online videos (WebCameron) and visiting the Arctic in Cameron's first foreign trip as leader to highlight climate change.
Throughout the book, Fall writes of the relationships that underpin her experience in politics.
Reception
The book received mixed reviews. Robert Shrimsley of the Financial Times wrote that while it was "airy, enjoyable and fast-paced", Fall was "either too decent or too discreet to make a really good political diarist"; he criticised her reluctance to find fault in Cameron and the rest of his team, calling it a "government of pals".[2] Patrick Kidd of The Times agreed with Shrimsley's criticism, comparing The Gatekeeper to Friends and calling it Chums ("Cameron's Hubristic University Mates") due to their friendships and education at the University of Oxford. Calling her writing "fast-paced and anecdote-rich", Kidd also praised her writing regarding the human element of politics, such as the deaths of Cameron's son, Ivan, and civil servant Chris Martin.[3]
Ailbhe Rea of the New Statesman used the book to understand the Notting Hill set and Chipping Norton set that revolved around Cameron and the "deployment of friendship as political strategy"; she praises Fall's writing and how it was not self-centred.[4]