The Conservative party: from Thatcher to Cameron (2nd edition)
book
posted on 2023-06-07, 21:56authored byTim Bale
Politicians, most people think, will say anything to get elected. Parties, if they are in opposition, will do whatever it takes to get into power and, if they are in government, whatever it takes to stay there. This book challenges that common wisdom and tries to explain why it's wrong. It does this by focusing on a party that for decades had a reputation for its ruthless pursuit of power but which, until very recently, seemed to have forgotten how to win. If at the heart of every story there has to be a question, then it is this: how and why did the Conservative Party, of all parties, not do what it had to do in order, firstly, to stay in Downing Street after 1992 and, secondly, to get back there as soon as possible after 1997? Just as importantly: why and how was it able, after 2005, to apparently put things right so quickly?