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 97, Issue 2

Latest Journal

Volume 97, Issue 2

Includes a Collection titled 'Inequality and the Future of London', edited by Graeme Atherton and Rupa Huq MP, which brings together contributions from politicians, academics and think tanks to explore how inequality manifests itself in London. In the opening commentary, Ben Jackson asks 'What is the Point of the Labour Party?' while John Street, Michael Harker and Samuel Cross explore public inquiries and UK press regulation; Paul Thomas assesses the Prevent counter-terrorism strategy after Southport; and Ben Worthy, Mark Bennister, and Arianna Giovannini take a closer look at the Mayor of London at 25. Book reviews include Mary Dejevsky's review of 'The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins: From the Maidan to the Ukraine War', by Ivan Katchanovski.

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