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

Wyburn-Powell, Alun

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1784993972 ISBN 13: 9781784993979

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2016

Synopsis

In May 2010, much to the surprise of most commentators, voters and even the parties themselves, a coalition agreement was reached between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. The general assumption beforehand had been that the natural coalition allies for the Liberal Democrats would have been the Labour Party. However, this book reveals that over the whole century leading up to the 2010 election, there had been an enduring cultural compatibility between the Conservatives and the Liberals/Liberal Democrats, which had not been the case with the relationship between the Liberals/Liberal Democrats and Labour. 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., Nicholas Thomason, LSE: The London School of Economics and Political Science, 2013-"Dr Wyburn-Powell travelled far and laboured hard in the various archives to gather his fascinating material. His numerous research trips have certainly yielded fruit to enrich his truely pioneering, proundbreaking study" (Dr J.Graham Jones, National Library of Wales, Journal of Liberal History 82, 2014), Dr J.Graham Jones, National Library of Wales, Journal of Liberal History 82, 2014-It is recommended without reservation to historians and interested observers of British Politics., Craig Johnson, Newcastle University, Political Studies Review, 1 February 2015

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: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1784993972
• ISBN 13: 9781784993979
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224