One of Us
54 pages • 1-hour read
Elizabeth DayOne of Us
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Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content, illness, and death.
Political Context: The Westminster Bubble and Scandal-Driven Media
One of Us is set within the “Westminster bubble,” a term for the insular world of the British political elite. The novel reflects a reality in which political careers are often forged within exclusive networks rooted in inherited privilege. According to a 2019 report by the Sutton Trust, 29% of UK Members of Parliament (MPs) were privately educated despite only 7% of the population attending such schools (Montacute, Rebecca, and Maariyah Dawood. “Parliamentary Privilege 2019.” The Sutton Trust, 13 Dec. 2019). This dynamic is embodied by Prime Minister Edward Buller and his cabinet minister, Ben Fitzmaurice, university friends whose power is sustained by a network of wealthy donors and sympathetic officials who make inconvenient truths “go away.”
The narrative also mirrors the UK’s scandal-driven media environment, where personal and political transgressions can dominate news cycles and end careers. The derailing of Richard Take’s political career by a leaked video of him watching pornography, and Take’s later exposure of Ben Fitzmaurice’s criminal cover-ups to the press, echoes real-world events in the UK, such as the 2009 MPs’ expenses scandal. Exposed by The Daily Telegraph after receiving a leaked database of MPs’ expense claims, this major political controversy revealed the widespread misuse of public funds by MPs. The public outcry led to prosecutions, the end of political careers, and major reforms to Parliament’s regulation. Similarly, the “Partygate” scandal contributed to the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson introduced strict lockdown laws, meaning that British citizens were often unable to visit dying relatives or attend their funerals. At the same time, media investigations revealed that the Prime Minister and his Cabinet had broken their own rules by holding social gatherings at 10 Downing Street and other government offices. The Health Secretary during the COVID-19 pandemic was also mired in scandal as The Sun leaked CCTV photos of him breaking his own protocol by kissing his aide in his office. These scandals triggered public outrage by exposing institutional abuse and hypocrisy within the UK government. In this context, Day’s novel explores the relationship between power and public image, suggesting that influence is maintained through the strategic management and containment of scandal.
Series Context: The Lingering Fallout from The Party
One of Us is a sequel to Elizabeth Day’s 2018 novel, The Party, and its plot is driven by the unresolved betrayals of the first book. The narrator, Martin Gilmour, begins the story still grappling with the consequences of events that occurred decades earlier. As a working-class scholarship student at Cambridge University, Martin’s identity was defined by his unequal friendship with the wealthy and charismatic Ben Fitzmaurice. He was secretly in love with Ben and jealous of another of Ben’s friends, Andrew Jarvis, who nicknamed Martin “Little Shadow” or “LS”—a sarcastic reference to Ben’s constant presence. Martin’s devotion to Ben eventually led him to cover up a fatal crime: When a drunken Ben killed a young woman named Vicky Dillane in a car accident, Martin agreed to take the blame.
After graduating, Ben married Serena and Martin married Lucy, not wanting to admit that he was gay, even to himself. For years, Martin’s silence about the car accident was rewarded with a stipend from the Fitzmaurice family and a place within their powerful inner circle. He believed his loyalty had earned him a form of love and belonging. However, this illusion was shattered at Ben’s 40th birthday party. With Ben preparing to launch a political career, the family decided Martin was an “inconvenient loose end” and unceremoniously exiled him from their lives (8). In a moment of fury, Lucy attacked Serena with a champagne bottle, leaving her with critical injuries. When questioned by the police, Martin revealed that Ben was responsible for Vicky Dillane’s murder years earlier. However, Ben escaped any charges. Meanwhile, Serena recovered from Lucy’s attack and told police she was injured in an accident. Lucy decided to divorce Martin, leaving him bitter and isolated.
This history of sacrifice, class anxiety, and profound betrayal fuels Martin’s complex motivations in One of Us when he is unexpectedly invited back into the Fitzmaurice fold.
Cultural Context: Culture Wars at British Universities
The novel taps into contemporary debates surrounding “cancel culture,” a term often used to describe public shaming and professional ostracism after an individual’s words or behavior are deemed offensive. The inciting incident for the protagonist, Martin Gilmour, is a classroom confrontation that mirrors real-life campus controversies. During a lecture, Martin uses the term “orientalism” to describe an artist’s influences, which a student labels as an offensive “colonialist stereotype.” The debate surrounding this term’s usage was popularized by Edward Said’s 1978 book, Orientalism, which critiques the West’s patronizing depictions and perception of Asia and the Middle East.
The fictional incident in which Martin’s exchange with a student is filmed, goes viral, and leads to the newspaper headline, “University Lecturer in Race Row” (12), parallels actual events, such as the 2021 controversy surrounding Professor Kathleen Stock at the University of Sussex. As a Professor of Philosophy, Stock conveyed “gender-critical” views in her teaching—a position that emphasizes biological sex and questions aspects of gender self-identification policies. Stock’s critics, including trans activists, argued that her views were harmful and “transphobic”; groups of students organized against her on campus, while the UK’s key university trade union called on the University of Sussex to take a stance against transphobia. Demonstrations and posters calling for her dismissal escalated to online campaigns and public debate. The university’s leadership stated that Stock’s views were lawful, and hundreds of academics signed letters defending her. Nevertheless, Stock resigned, citing intimidation and harassment.
Through Martin’s suspension and forced therapy, the novel explores the cultural divides over language and historical context. Because he uses a descriptive term that has become loaded with associations of racism and colonialism, Martin becomes central to a younger generation’s demand for social justice. His predicament highlights modern anxieties about free speech, the power of social media to enforce new norms, and the shifting boundaries of acceptable discourse in public life.
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