Search results for ""Author Mark Garnett""

In this timely book, Mark Garnett provides a bracing reassessment of the role of the British Prime Minister, from Margaret Thatcher’s controversial tenure to Boris Johnson’s attempt to confront a pandemic with a ministerial team created to face the very different challenge of Brexit. Taking a thematic approach, Garnett explores the impact of major political developments and personalities on key aspects of prime ministerial functions as party leader, Cabinet-maker, chief diplomat and electoral talisman. Much of the controversy over the position of Prime Minister, he concludes, arises from a confusion between the occupant’s inescapable political prominence and his or her – often limited – ability to achieve positive policy outcomes. With both David Cameron and Theresa May forced to resign since 2016, the book questions whether the nature of the job has become a deterrent for politicians who are motivated by a desire to serve the British public, opening the way for individuals with much less laudable motivations.

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This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. As a complex and multifaceted world-view, conservatism is often pigeonholed and partially understood. And while the nature of conservative ideology is warmly contested among scholars, no-one can deny its prominence in contemporary debates and its effects on the politics of everyday life. These 16 essays written by expert scholars and specialists offer a broad survey of conservative thought that extends beyond typical historical and geographic boundaries to include past thinkers like Plato and Edmund Burke, non-European conservative traditions such as Japan and Russia, and political ‘practitioners’ including Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Charles de Gaulle. Each essay grapples with short primary source extracts while offering instructive criticism and commentary. Conservative Moments offers students a useful, accessible, and comprehensive exposition of this political ideology.

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In this timely book, Mark Garnett provides a bracing reassessment of the role of the British Prime Minister, from Margaret Thatcher’s controversial tenure to Boris Johnson’s attempt to confront a pandemic with a ministerial team created to face the very different challenge of Brexit. Taking a thematic approach, Garnett explores the impact of major political developments and personalities on key aspects of prime ministerial functions as party leader, Cabinet-maker, chief diplomat and electoral talisman. Much of the controversy over the position of Prime Minister, he concludes, arises from a confusion between the occupant’s inescapable political prominence and his or her – often limited – ability to achieve positive policy outcomes. With both David Cameron and Theresa May forced to resign since 2016, the book questions whether the nature of the job has become a deterrent for politicians who are motivated by a desire to serve the British public, opening the way for individuals with much less laudable motivations.

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This book reviews the history of British general elections since 1964, charting the changes in voters and parties at every step. In parallel, it shows how electoral analysts have responded to these developments. This fully revised and updated edition examines the general elections of 2015, 2017, and 2019 in the context of the momentous referendums on Scottish independence (2014) and EU membership (2016), showing the impact of these votes on an electorate which has become increasingly volatile. If the early post-war period was marked by strong partisan loyalties, based largely on social class, in 2019 Britain seemed to have entered an age of 'identity politics' in which factors such as age and educational qualifications gave a better indication of voter allegiance. By analysing all 16 elections since 1964 in their historical context, this book allows readers to understand both the scale and the nature of developments in British politics over these eventful years.

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Charles James Fox and William Pitt the Younger were the two political giants of their day - the greatest of orators, and the fiercest of rivals. But did the two men have anything in common? Each was a younger son of distinguished fathers, who themselves had been bitter rivals for power a generation earlier, and each came to prominence at a very young age. Temperamentally, however, they could hardly have been more different. Fox was genial, tolerant, gregarious, self-indulgent, rash, a reckless gambler and a drinking companion of the Prince of Wales (later the Prince Regent and George IV) whereas Pitt was cautious, self-controlled (though also a heavy drinker), calculating, ruthless and misanthropic. Their fates were heavily influenced by their respective relationships with George III, who formed an insensate hostility to Fox, using unconstitutional means to exclude him from power, while favouring Pitt, whom he appointed as Prime Minister at the age of 24, and maintained in office for 17 years (plus a further two years in his second administration). The result was that Fox enjoyed only three very short periods as Foreign Minister, and was effectively Leader of the Opposition for a record 23 years. But he did achieve a late triumph when, following the death of Pitt, he became the dominant member of the `Government of All the Talents' and lived long enough to be able to introduce the bill which abolished the slave trade. Featuring a wide cast of characters, this book sheds new light on the political landscape of Georgian England and two of the leading political players of the age.

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This book reviews the history of British general elections since 1964, charting the changes in voters and parties at every step. In parallel, it shows how electoral analysts have responded to these developments. This fully revised and updated edition examines the general elections of 2015, 2017, and 2019 in the context of the momentous referendums on Scottish independence (2014) and EU membership (2016), showing the impact of these votes on an electorate which has become increasingly volatile. If the early post-war period was marked by strong partisan loyalties, based largely on social class, in 2019 Britain seemed to have entered an age of 'identity politics' in which factors such as age and educational qualifications gave a better indication of voter allegiance. By analysing all 16 elections since 1964 in their historical context, this book allows readers to understand both the scale and the nature of developments in British politics over these eventful years.

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