Profiling the biography of the Contemporary Political Figure in Australia

Paddy Manning was lucky. Just over a month before publication of his biography of Malcolm Turnbull (2015), his biographical subject successfully challenged Tony Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party and thus took the Australian prime ministership from him. The biography originally commissioned, of the man ‘touted as…Australia’s next prime minister’ (Lynch 2015), required only minor tweaks to take into account the unexpected fulfilment of that prediction. Publication did not need to be delayed. The marketing campaign required only a slight rejig. Moreover, the sudden elevation of his subject meant that Manning’s insights were widely solicited, garnering free press coverage and publicity for the upcoming book.