Book excerpt: The unassuming brown laminated card issued to Westminster lobby journalists is a VIP pass to the heart of our political world, allowing reporters to roam the corridors of power, to collar MPs for a private word. As a Political Correspondent for the BBC, Carole Walker was a member of this exclusive club for more than twenty years, attending hundreds of Lobby briefings with a front-row seat for Alastair Campbell's The Thick of It-style pronouncements and hanging out with a succession of prime ministers - always with an eye on the story. Drawing on interviews with former colleagues, politicians, spin doctors and critics of the system, as well as first-hand insight, Lobby Life tells the intriguing story of this highly secretive British institution from its conception to the present day. It exposes the battles at Downing Street to control the news agenda, including during some of most momentous stories in recent history. Through general elections, industrial strife, the EU referendum and the rise and fall of decades of governments, we witness the behind-the-scenes deals, the drama and debate, the resignations and the rows. In this no-holds-barred account of what really happens behind the closed doors of Westminster, Walker asks urgent questions about the role of the press today, when politicians can engage directly with voters via social media, bypassing journalists - and accountability. This book will intrigue anyone who wants to understand a political system that seeks to shape how and where we consume our news, and to influence who and what we believe.