Description
Book SynopsisThe latest book in the long-running Britain at the Polls series provides an indispensable account of the fascinating 2017 British general election. It explains why the Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority and how Theresa May returned at the head of a minority government. Leading experts analyse the Conservatives’ record in government, May’s fateful decision to call an early election, Labour’s shift to the left under Jeremy Corbyn, the Liberal Democrats’ ongoing problems, the collapse in UKIP’s vote share, the SNP’s diminished appeal in Scotland, and the role of gender and electoral integrity in the 2017 campaign. The book also addresses broader questions about the future of British politics against the backdrop of the 2016 Brexit referendum and ongoing austerity. Its coverage and accessible style make it of interest to general readers, students of British politics and professional political scientists.
Trade Review‘None past the post features a distinguished set of contributors, who ably parse out the factors that shaped the surprising 2017 general election. This coherent, accessible and lively volume provides essential reading that will interest students of British party politics, election campaigns, and voting behaviour.’
James Adams, University of California at Davis
‘This book provides the authoritative, sophisticated and accessible account that is called for by the most extraordinary election of our recent history. Each chapter is a model of careful, focused analysis and finely judged interpretation. An election’s significance requires an appreciation both of numbers and of history. None past the post does this superbly.’
Sir Ivor Crewe, University College, Oxford
‘The authors tell the story of the 2017 general election in rich, compelling detail. The twists and turns of British politics and British voting behaviour are captured with the right balance, explanation and evidence to offer an illuminating, fascinating and accessible record of one of the most intriguing periods in British political history.’
Jane Green, University of Manchester
‘The result of Britain’s 2017 general election was, with little doubt, one of the most dramatic and unexpected in modern British history. This latest contribution to the long-running Britain at the Polls series shines a clear light on what happened. The book is sure to become a benchmark in our understanding of this most unusual of elections.’
Charles Pattie, University of Sheffield
‘As an American attempting to make sense of the electoral instability characterizing recent US elections, I benefited from reading the efforts of British scholars to make sense of theirs. While there are major institutional dissimilarities between our two countries and some major trends are moving in opposite directions, there are important points of political contact as well. American scholars will profit from expanding their foci and digesting these analyses of their British colleagues.’
Morris P. Fiorina, Stanford University
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Table of ContentsPreface
1 Gambling with the electorate: The Conservatives in government - Nicholas Allen
2 Revolt on the left: Labour in opposition - Thomas Quinn
3 The Liberal Democrats: remaining in the doldrums - John Curtice
4 The rise and fall of UKIP, 2010–17 - Paul Whiteley, Matthew Goodwin and Harold D. Clarke
5 Squeezing the SNP: the election in Scotland - Robert Johns
6 From Thatcher to May and beyond: women in British politics - Meryl Kenny
7 Electoral integrity and post-truth politics - Sarah Birch
8 Why the Conservatives lost their majority – but still won - John Bartle
9 A coalition of chaos: where next? - Rosie Campbell
Appendix: results of British general elections, 1945–2017
