Bloody Panico

A history and obituary for the British conservative party As the Tories face the voters at the next General Election. Leading political commentator Geoffrey Wheatcroft argues that the party is not just facing the loss of government but also an existential crisis. The Tory Party has been the most electorally successful party in the history of modern Europe. It has been in power for eighty-five of the past 135 years. In 2019 they won their largest parliamentary majority in more than thirty years. So what went wrong? In Bloody Panico, Geoffrey Wheatcroft charts the collapse of not just the party but its shattering of its very foundations. 2022 will be remembered as the year of two monarchs and three prime ministers, not to mention four chancellors of the exchequer, five education secretaries, and more than thirty resignations from the government. Beyond the pantomine of Boris, Truss and the managerial dullness of Sunak, the fabric of the party is frayed. At long last the Tories' ancient instinct for survival appears to have deserted them, along with any concern for the public good, and the prevailing mode of dissension and vicious feuding. This could see them cast into the political wilderness for decades.

A history and obituary for the British conservative party As the Tories face the voters at the next General Election. Leading political commentator Geoffrey Wheatcroft argues that the party is not just facing the loss of government but also an existential crisis. The Tory Party has been the most electorally successful party in the history of modern Europe. It has been in power for eighty-five of the past 135 years. In 2019 they won their largest parliamentary majority in more than thirty years. So what went wrong? In Bloody Panico, Geoffrey Wheatcroft charts the collapse of not just the party but its shattering of its very foundations. 2022 will be remembered as the year of two monarchs and three prime ministers, not to mention four chancellors of the exchequer, five education secretaries, and more than thirty resignations from the government. Beyond the pantomine of Boris, Truss and the managerial dullness of Sunak, the fabric of the party is frayed. At long last the Tories' ancient instinct for survival appears to have deserted them, along with any concern for the public good, and the prevailing mode of dissension and vicious feuding. This could see them cast into the political wilderness for decades.

A catch phrase is a well-known, frequently-used phrase or saying that has `caught on' or become popular over along period of time. It is often witty or philosophical and this Dictionary gathers together over 7,000 such phrases.

David Cameron. Theresa May. Boris Johnson. Liz Truss. Rishi Sunak. Five prime ministers, one explosive memoir from the heart of Westminster. Kingmaker lifts the lid on the leadership battles that have defined British politics for a decade and a half. The last fourteen years have seen turbulence at the centre of politics that is perhaps unique in British history. From coalition to Brexit, Covid to Partygate, Trussonomics to this year's election, our government has never felt so fractured. And as Prime Ministers have come and gone, one man has been at the heart of every leadership challenge, seeing all, but saying nothing. Until now. Sir Graham Brady has been the Chairman of the 1922 Committee since 2010. As the leader of the group with the power to choose a new leader of the Conservative Party, it is his hand that held the executioner's axe over five consecutive Conservative Prime Ministers' heads. Elected to parliament in 1997 as the youngest Conservative MP in the house, Brady comes from a lower middle-class background and fell into politics age 16 when he joined a campaign to save his grammar school. This book is the story of how a boy from Salford came to be the definitive Tory insider. With unique access to every key decision-maker of the past fourteen years, it offers insights into the character and choices of successive Prime Ministers and the administrations they led. Ultimately, it reveals where our most recent leadership failures originate, and asks hard questions about who will be fit to lead us tomorrow.

The complete life of Margaret Thatcher in one volume. As Britain's first woman Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher brought about the biggest social and political revolution in the nation's post-war history. She achieved this largely by the driving force of her personality – a subject of endless speculation among both her friends and her foes. Jonathan Aitken has an insider's view of Margaret Thatcher's story. He is well qualified to explore her strong and sometimes difficult personality during half a century of political dramas. From first meeting her when she was a junior shadow minister in the mid 1960s, during her time as leader of the Opposition when he was a close family friend, and as a Member of Parliament throughout her years in power, Aitken had a ring side seat at many private and public spectacles in the Margaret Thatcher saga. From his unique vantage point, Aitken brings new light to many crucial episodes of Thatcherism. They include her ousting of Ted Heath, her battles with her Cabinet, the Falklands War, the Miners' Strike, her relationships with world leaders such as Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and the build up to the Shakespearian coup inside the Conservative Party which brought about her downfall. Drawing on his own diaries, and a wealth of extensive research including some ninety interviews which range from international statesmen like Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger and Lord Carrington to many of her No.10 private secretaries and personal friends, Jonathan Aitken's Margaret Thatcher – Power and Personality breaks new ground as a fresh and fascinating portrait of the most influential political leader of post-war Britain.

Roger Fenton has achieved a lot since he left jail. At last he has a good job, a new name and he is beginning to overcome the ex-con's bitterness which has threatened to ruin him. But his new existence had the seeds of disaster in it, and on the day the pale man shuffles up to him and murmurs 'one six seven', Roger knows his past has caught up with him. As manager and prospective partner in a thriving business Roger knows he can deal with difficult clients and delicate business deals. But this new situation permits no half measures. He has to decide on one of two ruthless courses: to fight or to run ...

Harris’ classic war novel of espionage in an extreme situation. Four men cling to a dinghy, praying for rescue before dying, or the enemy finding them. One man is injured; another is carrying a briefcase stuffed with vital secrets. This story charts the daring and courage of these men, their rescuers and a mission with awesome of consequences.

The classic war novel of espionage in the most extreme of situations. An essential flight from France crash lands in the North Sea, leaving the four remaining crew members of the RAF Hudson stranded on a dinghy. One man is critically injured, and another, a rocket expert, is carrying a briefcase stuffed with vital war secrets, that could prove devastating if allowed to fall into the wrong hands. As the days begin to stretch out, they can only pray that the rescue team can locate the dinghy in time, before exposure kills them, or worse, the enemy finds them... A novel which charts the daring and courage of four castaways, and the men who rescued them in a breathtaking mission with the most awesome of consequences, perfect for fans of Alexander Fullerton, David McDine and Alan Evans.

This book re-examines the claim of the Conservative Party to be the ‘national party’ and in its politics to express the enduring ‘national interest’. It explores the historical character of the Conservative Party, in particular the significance of the nation in its self-understanding. It addresses the political culture of the modern party, one which proclaims a Unionist vocation but rests mainly on English support, and considers how the Englishness of the party is reconciled with the politics of British statecraft. It considers the constitutional challenges which the Conservative Party faces in managing a changing Union, in negotiating a changing Europe and in defining a changing national interest. The book is essential reading not only for students and scholars of the Conservative Party but also for those who want to make sense of the transformations taking place in modern British politics.