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Perhaps the most extraordinary period in modern British history, the years between the Great Recession and Brexit have often been dubbed ‘the lost decade'because of the economic and political turmoil caused by those two great events. Michael Burton outlines how the first led to the second, assisted by a rare confluence of other, often unrelated, social and political factors that delivered the shock Leave verdict in the EU referendum of 2016. These included the longstanding grievances of voters in former industrial areas feeling left behind by globalism, stagnant incomes after the recession, austerity, the rise of social media, the refugee and Eurozone crisis in Europe, the deep split in the Conservative and Labour parties over the EU and rising wealth inequalities. The author also charts the chaotic political landscape that ended in the final Brexit deal. This book is ideal for the general reader as well as for students of politics, history and economics needing a concise andwell-explained account of this turbulent period in British history.

This book illustrates the cyclical pattern in the kinds of dilemmas that confront political leaders and, in particular, disjunctive political leaders affiliated with vulnerable political regimes. The volume covers three major episodes in disjunction: the interwar crisis between 1923 and 1940, afflicting Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald and Neville Chamberlain; the collapse of Keynesian welfarism between 1970 and 1979, dealt with by Edward Heath, Harold Wilson and James Callaghan; and the ongoing crisis of neoliberalism beginning in 2008, affecting Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May. Based on this series of case studies of disjunctive prime ministers, the authors conclude that effective disjunctive leadership is premised on judicious use of the prime ministerial toolkit in terms of deciding whether, when and where to act, effective diagnostic and choice framing, and the ability to manage both crises and regimes.

This book traces how Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher, during their respective years as Conservative Opposition Leaders (1965-70 and 1975-79), managed their Party's attempts to ensure a return to government, each after two electoral defeats. They did so in the context of an emergent New Conservatism, championed by the likes of Enoch Powell, Keith Joseph and Nigel Lawson, which betokened a long-term change from the post-war Butskellite settlement. Against a national background of declining economic status, high inflation, debilitating public sector strikes and internal Conservative Party debates, particularly over industrial relations policy and monetarism, they adopted strikingly different approaches to policy-making in Opposition. The book illustrates how, paradoxically, Heath's technocratic over-prescription failed to save his eventual premiership, while Thatcher's under-committed policy design failed to impede her leading a purposeful and transformative government in the 1980s.

Based on an extensive range of sources, this impressive book analyses the principal institutions and features of British politics on the eve of reform: the monarchy, the prime ministership, the cabinet, the departments of State, parliamentary legislation, investigation, debate and parties, and the relationship between Parliament, the media, public opinion and popular politics. Designed to provide an accessible guide to how British politics was conducted in the early nineteenth century, this book leads to two main conclusions about pre-Reform politics: the unpredictability and openness of parliamentary affairs, and the centrality of Parliament to the politics of all social classes.

This book examines the role and place of the intellectual in twentieth-century French society. The essays are for the most part written by eminent French scholars and make available to the English-speaking reader a growing body of research which explores the ethical and historical issues raised by the prominence of the intellectual in politics since the Dreyfus Affair. The volume concludes with an examination of the contrasting and complementary roles of the French and British intellectual.

This collection of essays focuses Britain's role in global affairs since the Second World War. The essays cover a broad field, from relations with Japan and China, through European and African developments, to defence planning in Whitehall.

The Rise and Fall of Radical Westminster, 1780-1890 explores a critical chapter in the story of Britain's transition to democracy. Utilising the remarkably rich documentation generated by Westminster elections, Baer reveals how the most radical political space in the age of oligarchy became the most conservative and tranquil in an age of democracy.

This book offers a critique of the dominant conceptualization of heritage found in policy, which tends to privilege the white, middle and upper classes. Using Britain as an illustration, Waterton explores how and why recent policies continue to lean towards the predictable melding of cultural diversity with tendencies of assimilation.

The Thatcher era was the most dramatic period in British politics since the 1940s. As Conservative Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher proved to be the'Iron Lady'at home and abroad. This book analyzes the politics of the Thatcher era in an incisive and challenging manner.

British Political Facts Since 1979 is the definitive record of the who, the what and the when of British political history from the election of Mrs Thatcher as Prime Minister to the present day. It is a comprehensive reference work that will be invaluable to students of Contemporary British Politics.

The Compendium of British Office Holders provides a comprehensive guide to holders of British Political, Administrative, Military and Ecclesiastical offices since the Roman conquest, giving names, dates and the length offices were held for governmental positions. It is the first such collection of this type of research data since Haydn's Dictionary of Dates was published back in 1894 and will provide the reader with quick and easy access to specific factual information for research.

The Conservative Party is usually seen as being non-ideological. This book is the first comprehensive treatment of the political thought of the Conservative Party examining the major elements of Conservative thinking since 1945, cross-cutting thematic issues and commentaries from leading politicians and journalists. The book is essential for anyone interested in the history and future of the Party.

A new single volume history of the Communist Party of Great Britain examining the party from its foundations in 1920 to its demise in the early 1990s. Drawing on original research and a reading of specialist texts, the authors analyze the rise and fall of the party and evaluate its role on the left of British politics. Whilst sympathetic to the ideals and commitment of many British communist activists, the book is sharply critical of much of the actual practice of the party.

Many important lessons have come out of the negotiations for the Belfast Agreement. This book explains how public opinion polls were used in support of the Northern Ireland peace process. Significantly, it was the politicians who decided the questions so that they could map out areas of compromise and common ground that their supporters would accept. This book explains how the work was done so that others can apply the benefits of this experience to their own peace building activities.

For thirty years the Labour Party was wracked by conflict over membership of the European Community, swinging back and forth, pro and anti, when in and out of office. It was a conflict that helped keep the party in opposition for eighteen years until it abandoned its socialist basis under New Labour. The author as journalist and European Union official knew many of the major and minor players and brings this experience to bear.

The experience of one region over 25 years within the European Union forms the basis of an examination of how the EU impacts on a region's economy, on its society and on its particular problems. In the case of Northern Ireland, inclusion in the European Union has coincided with the most sustained campaign of political terrorism in western Europe.

Labour's 1997 victory was widely credited to the party's reinvention of itself as New Labour. This book argues that the transformation of the Labour Party is best understood as the product of Thatcherism, and marks the emergence of a new consensus in British politics.

The book examines the evolution and current significance of the parading tradition in Ireland. Since 1995, confrontations over parades have existed side by side with the Northern Ireland peace process. The most bitter of these have occurred over the Drumcree church parade at Portadown and the Relief of Derry parades. Using a range of historical and anthropological perspectives, the book traces the parading tradition from the seventeenth century to the present.

Crisis and Consensus in British Politics focuses on the collapse of the post-war consensus in the mid 1970s crisis and the emergence of a new consensus in the 1990s. It follows this process through six key policy areas including civil service reform, privatisation, macro-economic management and relations with Europe. It is designed for students following courses in modern history, politics and public policy as well as general readers with an interest in current affairs.

'...in this clear and informed history of the 1974-79 government, Holmes shows how Labour's aspirations constantly encountered the practical limits of economic management.'Times Higher Education Supplement'...lucid and well-documented account.'British Book News'...Dr Holmes is perceptive and fair in his assessment of the leading personalities.'Samuel Brittan, Financial Times.

In this book historian R.J.Q. Adams examines the policy of appeasement as practiced by British Governments in the inter-war years - a programme widely praised in its day and frequently condemned as wrong-headed and even wicked ever since. In this thoroughly accessible work, he reveals the motivations and goals of the men who practiced appeasement as well as of those who opposed it, and makes clear the road to Munich - and to war.

After 1945, Britain maintained a great chain of overseas military outposts stretching from the Suez Canal to Singapore. Commonly termed the `east of Suez'role, this chain had long been thought to be crucial for the country's security and its vitality. Nonetheless, British leaders eventually decided to abandon this network of bases. This study provides the most comprehensive explanation of this pivotal decision to date, while also offering insight into the processes of foreign policy change and the decline of great powers.

'The best contemporary map available [of the British state].'Peter Hennessy The final volume of Keith Middlemas's acclaimed trilogy shows how, after a climactic crisis in the mid-1970s, the balance changed between government, interest groups, political parties, and public, whose competition had characterised the postwar years, and how emergence of new alignments among them altered the British state itself. Documented from over three hundred interviews with participants, as well as archives, it provides an object lesson in contemporary history.

'An extraordinarily rich and suggestive work, full of illuminating asides and thought-provoking insights, backed by a formidable mastery of detail. This is a magnificent achievement.'David Marquand In the forefront of contemporary history, this volume displays the same breadth, originality and innovation as the first. The start of intense rivalry between industry, trade unions and the financial sector, to influence policy in postwar Britain, increased in the late 1950s. Macmillan's government succeeded briefly in restoring some of the original wartime consensus after 1961, only to see hopes for Conservative planning wither. Competition among interest groups to settle how the national interest should be defined made Wilson's attempt to create a Labour planned economy almost impossible. Despite the spur of relative decline, modernisation always fell far short of politicians'aims, putting in doubt the ability of even a modern state to achieve its ambitions. A series of crises exposed promises of breakthrough into growth, which governments blamed on the self-interest of institutions - without whose co-operation they still believed they could not govern.

This fascinating study contains important new information and original insights into a poorly-understood political phenomenon: contests for party leadership. It describes, in far greater detail than has appeared before, the frequently bitter struggles over leadership selection which have plagued the Conservative, Labour, Liberal, Social Democratic, and Liberal Democrat parties. Based on extensive interviewing with former party leaders, and careful analysis of leadership contests in each party, the book concludes that leadership selection rules rarely affect who stands for party leadership or who wins the contests.

This book details the development of British policy with regard to European integration during the Macmillan premiership. It is an account of how senior ministers and officials attempted, within the triple constraints of the British system of government, external pressure and domestic economic and political considerations, to strike a harmonious balance between the commercial interests and the political aspirations of the British people. The work raises fundamental questions about the role of the cabinet in the British system of government.