The Almanac of British Politics is a reference work which aims to provide a detailed look at the politics of the United Kingdom (UK) through an approach of profiling the social, economic and historical characteristics of each parliamentary constituency (district) and of their individual representative Member of Parliament (MP).
The Almanac is broken down alphabetically by constituency, with additional material offering regional surveys of the previous election, statistical data about the seats such as those with the highest working-class population or the fewest students, the youngest and oldest and longest serving MPs.
It is particularly concerned to offer a guide to the likely political characteristics of the new seats created by the regular boundary changes or redistricting of constituencies (such as in 1983, 1997, 2005 in Scotland only, and forthcoming in the 2010 UK general election.)
Since the fifth edition (1996) Waller has been joined by a co-author responsible for profiles of MPs by Byron Criddle, Reader in politics at Aberdeen University.
Despite its bulk, the book is known also as a guide to the nature of the United Kingdom in a broader sense than the merely political, and also for Byron Criddle's sometimes controversial and acerbic pen-portraits of politicians.