Module code: HS2356 

Module Outline

This module will explore the evolution of British politics from New Liberalism to New Labour. The period of study starts with the election of the last majority Liberal government in the landslide of 1906 and ends with the resignation of the undefeated Tony Blair, after his ten-year term of office in 2007. The intervening period saw the emergence of the Labour Party as a credible party of government, the impact of two world wars and the near-extinction of the Liberal Party.

The lectures will take a chronological view of the period and the seminars will focus on themes from across the period, such as votes for women and other changes to the franchise, coalition government, the emergence of green issues, the impact of the media, political leadership and ideology, the electoral fortunes of the political parties, devolution and economic crises. 

Reading

S. Ball, The Conservative Party and British Politics 1902-1951.

V. Bogdanor, (ed.) The British Constitution in the Twentieth Century.

D. Dutton, A History of the Liberal Party in the Twentieth Century A. Sked, & C. Cook, Post-War Britain: A Political History.