The Abuse of Power

The Abuse of Power: Confronting Injustice in Public Life is a book by former British Prime minister, Theresa May published in 2023. The book explores how power is abused by public institutions and those who run them.^[1] It explores the police response to the Hillsborough disaster, Windrush scandal, the Grenfell Tower fire, the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal, the British Post Office scandal, ^[1] and the use of stop and search powers by the police.^[2]

The Abuse of Power

Author	Theresa May
Publisher	Headline
Publication date	14 September 2023
Pages	352
ISBN	978-1035409884

Critical reception

Andrew Rawnsley reviewing in The Guardian commented that the prose was plain but punchy.^[1] Róisín Lanigan writing in the Irish Independent criticizes May's writing and says that May has a lack of self-awareness.^[3]

Rawnsley comments that May's description of the Windrush scandal deflects from her responsibility as a Home Secretary.^[1]

Rawnsley says that the inclusion of a chapter on Brexit and the assertion that her opponents were abusing power was bizarre and "repulsive" given the other examples included in the book.^[1] Tom Peck, writing in The Independent, comments that many of the claimed abuses of power related to Brexit would be viewed as entirely legitimate tactics by others.^[4]

Writing for Literary Review, Tim Bale said: "According to the veteran political journalist Andrew Marr, political memoirs serve three purposes: 'to settle scores, to nudge the dial of the historical verdict, and above all to win a publisher’s advance that is unlikely to be earned out'. May, whatever she might claim, is clearly attempting to do the first and the second of these – in neither case very successfully".^[5]