First published in 1999, this book examines the dramatic decline of the Conservative Party in Scotland. In 1955 the party secured over 50 per cent of the Scottish vote. At the last election it won a mere 17 per cent of the vote, losing its representation at Westminster in the process. But, until the publication of this work and despite its importance, relatively little was known about why the Conservative Party had declined so precipitously in Scotland. Many of the explanations for the party's decline had largely remained untested. These included that the party had lost its Protestant base, suffered for its opposition to devolution and become too right wing for a normally progressive Scottish electorate. Using a unique collection of survey data, this work casts doubt on all three claims. Thus, this book makes a major academic contribution and examines, what for the Scottish Unionists, was An Important Matter of Principle.

First published in 1999, this book examines the dramatic decline of the Conservative Party in Scotland. In 1955 the party secured over 50 per cent of the Scottish vote. At the last election it won a mere 17 per cent of the vote, losing its representation at Westminster in the process. But, until the publication of this work and despite its importance, relatively little was known about why the Conservative Party had declined so precipitously in Scotland. Many of the explanations for the party's decline had largely remained untested. These included that the party had lost its Protestant base, suffered for its opposition to devolution and become too right wing for a normally progressive Scottish electorate. Using a unique collection of survey data, this work casts doubt on all three claims. Thus, this book makes a major academic contribution and examines, what for the Scottish Unionists, was An Important Matter of Principle.

The British Conservative Party and One Nation Politics attempts to reveal the true nature of Conservative Party politics by examining the centrality of the myth of One Nation. The power and longevity of such a concept is crucial to any understanding of the success of the Conservative Party and this analysis of One Nation helps us to lay bare the kernel of Conservative party politics per se. The use of the term One Nation clearly matters for Conservative Party politics, not just in its 'ancestral' use emanating from Disraeli's 1840s novels and his late nineteenth century rhetoric, but also through Baldwin's speeches and to the failure of John Major to replicate such a serene and contented image of the Nation in the 1990s. But as a concept for the Conservatives it means so much more than mere imagery. It has been successfully utilized in their 'palaeontological' approach to their history in order to give the impression that only the Party puts 'Nation' before any sectional interest, that only the Conservative Party, as the national Party, has the ability to assuage and balance the plurality of competing interests on behalf of the Nation. It is because of this long and successful utilization of the term 'One Nation' that so many within the Party are so keen to lay claim to it.

Reveals the true nature of Conservative Party politics by examining the centrality of the myth of One Nation.

This study, by a host of leading experts in the field, provides the most up-to-date analysis of the often problematic relationship between Britain and Europe since 1950. Beginning with a historical overview, the book proceeds to deal with individual aspects of this relationship, examining in turn the attitudes of all the main political parties, the unions, business, the civil service, and the media - towards European Integration. It concludes with a review of the findings and a discussion of the implications for Britain and Europe.