Defectors and the Liberal Party 1910 to 2010: A Study of Inter-Party Relationships - Hardcover

Alun Wyburn-Powell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0719087694 ISBN 13: 9780719087691

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2012

Synopsis

This book is the first analysis of political defections over a long time span. It investigates all the Liberal/Liberal Democrat MPs and former MPs who defected from the party between the elections of December 1910 and May 2010 - around one sixth of all those elected - as well as the smaller number of inward defectors. Each of the 122 defections was an expert judgment on the state of the party at a specific date. The research investigates the timing and reasons for all the defections and reveals long-term trends and underlying causes and apportions responsibility between leaders for them. The author finds some significant differences which distinguished defectors from loyalists and draws wider conclusions about the underlying factors which lead MPs to defect. This book will be of interest to students and lecturers of British politics and anyone interested in the relationship between British political parties in the last century.

About this title

Review:

"Students of British political history will find much to enjoy here. The author's rich research pays dividends in contextualising each defection and it gives a valuable new perspective on the decline of the Liberal Party over the past one hundred years and their oft-overlooked cultural ties with the Conservatives."

About the Author:

Alun Wyburn-Powell is a Lecturer at the School of Historical Studies at the University of Leicester and at the Department of Journalism at City University, London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0719087694
• ISBN 13: 9780719087691
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208