Revolt on the left

This chapter offers an account of the Labour Party between the 2015 and 2017 general elections. It explains why Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader and how the party moved further to the left. It examines the very different responses to Corbyn’s leadership from within the party, and why he was both challenged for the party leadership by his MPs and able to defend his position with enormous support from the mass membership. It finishes by examining how, after languishing in the polls, Labour defied expectations on polling day by dramatically increasing its vote share.

Gambling with the electorate

This chapter charts the story of the Conservatives in government between 2015 and 2017. It examines why David Cameron called a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union, why Theresa May succeeded him as prime minister, and why May decided to call a snap election in the spring of 2017. It locates these decisions against deep and bitter divisions within the Conservative party over the issue of EU membership, and further examines the broader record of the Conservatives in government. Above all, it seeks to explain how both prime ministers both came to gamble their fortunes on the electorate – and lose.

From Thatcher to May and beyond

This chapter considers the place of women in British politics and how it has changed since the election of Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. It examines how the issue of gender featured in the campaign and in parties’ manifestos, before analysing the different parties’ records on selecting female candidates. It describes how women increasingly hold leadership positions in British politics but concludes that, without further action in the form of quotas, full gender equality at Westminster is unlikely to be achieved any time soon.

The Liberal Democrats

This chapter tells the story of the Liberal Democrats between 2015 and 2017. It begins by describing the party’s disastrous performance in the 2015 general election and their dramatic loss of support from participating in the 2010 coalition government. It examines how the party under its new leader, Tim Farron, sought to capitalise on the 2016 Brexit referendum by making it a platform on which to win over those who had voted Remain. It explains why the party’s strategy failed and why, despite gaining a small number of MPs, the party saw a further decline in its vote share.

A coalition of chaos

This chapter takes stock of the post-election landscape. It describes how the Conservatives and Prime Minister Theresa May emerged from the 2017 general election as a minority government and negotiated a confidence-and-supply arrangement with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). It considers how the government might be affected by the twin challenges of austerity and Brexit, as well as the other major parties. It finishes by examining the electoral instability in the party system and the possible implications going forward.

Electoral integrity and post-truth politics

This chapter examines the issue of electoral integrity at the 2017 general election and in British politics more generally. While elections are generally administered to high standards and are free of some of the problems found in other democracies, a number of recent party-funding scandals and localised incidents of misconduct have greatly increased the issue’s salience. Moreover, the 2017 election was also contested under the shadow of the alleged rise of ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’ politics. Looking to the future, changing behaviour around social media raise important questions about the long-term integrity of British elections.

Squeezing the SNP

This chapters examines how the 2017 general election played out in Scotland. It begins by describing the SNP’s rise to dominance in Scottish politics after devolution and the factors that explain its surge. It highlights how the drivers of voting behaviour in devolved and general elections differ, and then goes on to explain why the SNP lost some ground to the other parties in 2017, and why the Scottish Tories came second to the SNP in votes and seats. It argues that the Tories benefited from their status as the principal defender of Scottish Unionism, and Labour benefited from the expectation that the Tories would win a comfortable majority at Westminster.

The rise and fall of UKIP, 2010–17

This chapter describes the rise and fall of the United Kingdom Independence Party. Even though the party never simultaneously had more than two MPs in the House of Commons, it exerted an enormous influence on the direction of British politics, and its rise was an important factor in David Cameron’s decision to call the Brexit referendum. This chapter explains where UKIP drew its support and examines the importance of economic factors, as well as concerns about European integration and immigration. It also considers the challenges facing the party in the wake of the 2017 election and its future prospects.

Why the Conservatives lost their majority – but still won

This chapter answers the key question of why the Conservatives lost their majority at the 2017 general election but remained in power under Theresa May. If first describes the election outcome before explaining why a leftwards moving ‘policy mood’ and the government’s record made the Tories more vulnerable than their initial poll lead suggested. It further explains how, in the context of a two-horse race, Labour’s positive campaign contrasted especially favourably with the Conservatives’ own lacklustre efforts. Finally, the electoral system channelled the distribution of votes into a hung parliament in which the Tories fell just short of an overall majority.