Theme: Parties & Elections | Content Type: Journal article

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Choosing the Conservative Leader: a View from History

Vernon Bogdanor

theresa maya on the paper

Thomas Charters

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The history of the choice of Conservative Party leaders shows a progression from choice by an elite via choice by MPs to choice by party members. Even so, the parliamentary party retains, by contrast with the Labour Party, a dominant role in choosing the leader. The criterion of who is best placed to unify the party remains of importance, but is supplemented by two other criteria: who is best placed to win the next general election and who is the more genuinely Conservative of the various candidates. The Liz Truss premiership of 2022, however, the year of three Prime Ministers, seemed to cast doubt on the efficacy of Conservative leadership election rules.

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Volume 96, Issue 1

Latest Journal

Volume 96, Issue 1

This issue features a collection titled 'The 2024 UK General Election' edited by Ben Jackson, Colm Murphy and Peter Sloman, in which authors including Ross Mckibbin; Will Jennings,  Gerry Stoker, Paula Surridge, Maria Sobolewska, Mathew Lawrence and many more discuss the sources of Labour’s victory and consider how the result will shape the future of British politics. Other articles include a commentary by Deborah Mabbett on Trump's proposal to buy Greenland; 'Centralised by Design: Anglocentric Constitutionalism, Accountability and the Failure of English Devolution' by John Denham and Janice Morphet; 'Broke and Broken: The Crises Facing Local Government in England' by David Jeffery; and 'Biographies of Discontent: The Challenges Facing Labour' by Helen Goodman. A selection of book reviews feature Morgan Jones' thoughts on 'Against Landlords: How to Solve the Housing Crisis' by Nick Bano, and Lyndsey Jenkins' review of 'Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century' by Laura Beers.

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