Review: James O’Brien at Wolves Lit Fest

This comes with great thanks to his often outspoken style, but also, as he admits himself, with an even greater debt to almost 14 years of chaotic and dishonest leadership in the corridors of power.

Sitting on the centre left and facing daily abuse from those sat either side of him on the political spectrum, O’Brien found himself amongst friends at the Wulfrun Hall on Friday night as part of Wolverhampton Literary Festival.

Speaking to a packed out hall alongside fellow broadcaster and former Labour advisor Ayesha Hazarika, Kidderminster-raised O’Brien gave his views on topics guaranteed to split opinion, from Brexit to 14 years of Tory misrule.

He also chatted about his new book, How They Broke Britain, chronicling the nine men and one woman he says are to blame for the crushingly depressing state we currently find the country in.

His LBC show is listened to by 1.3 million people weekly, placing him at the top of the tree for radio talk shows, but he admits he has benefited professionally from government lies, law breaking and the fact we have had three prime ministers in the past 16 months.

“But I would just like someone good in charge now,” he told the audience.

“It probably wouldn’t be good for business in terms of my career, but I just want someone in charge who knows what they are doing and can try and make things a bit better.

"Keir Starmer isn’t to everyone’s taste, but as a listener said to me the other day, at least he is driving the bus in the right direction, while everyone else is speeding past the other way.”

Other subjects which O’Brien talked through to regular applause included the Covid lockdown parties in Number 10, the disastrous impact of Brexit on pretty much every facet of life in this country and Liz Truss’s embarrassing and soul-destroying 45 days as Prime Minister in which she managed to destroy the financial markets and make mortgages unaffordable for millions of Brits, plunging vast swathes of the country into poverty.

O’Brien isn’t for everyone. He certainly won’t be on any Christmas card lists for those secretive and unaccounted-for figures in Tufton Street, nor will he be welcome in the far right newsroom of GB News, but he is happy championing the voice of decent people - and a standing ovation shows he speaks for many.

“If I didn’t write this book, who would?” he asked.

Certainly not anyone employed by the media which is largely controlled in this country by Paul Dacre and Rupert Murdoch, who both have their own chapters in O’Brien’s book.

“Someone who worked with Dacre once told me he never has to buy new shoes as the only time he walks on the pavement is when he steps from his carpeted office to his carpeted limousine…how he can think he speaks for normal people in this country is beyond me,” he remarked of the Daily Mail chief.

O’Brien has a real connection with his audience - and the feeling is mutual, with him staying at the venue for well over an hour after the show ended, signing hundreds of books and posing for selfies with a crowd who just want to help repair the country broken by Cameron, Cummings, Truss, Johnson, Elliott, Farage, Corbyn, Dacre, Murdoch and Neil.