Summary
[...] from a starting point of electoral defeat and intellectual depletion eerily similar to that faced by today's Republicans in the U.S., it lost a decade, four leaders, and two more elections trying to find one. Major struggled for another five years-his only electoral victory was really a reflection ofthe weakness of his opponent, Labour's wordy, balding Neil Kinnock-and his administration was notable only for the completeness of its disunity and the regularity of its sex scandals.
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Extract
Britain's Great Right Hope
The Two Chairmen is a cozy backstreet pub, nestled in the heart of the Westminster Village-the small corner of London that includes 10 Downing St., Parliament, and most of Britain's major government departments. On a warm summer day in May 1994, two young Conservative Party political advisers stood outside, discussing the unexpected death of thenLabour Party leader John Smith, and his likely replacement: the young, telegenic Tony Blair. The more experienced ofthe two, Patrick Rock, was a hard-nosed spin doctor for Britain's hawkish home secretary, Michael Howard. The second drinker, younger-looking than even his 28 years would suggest, was future conservative leader David Cameron.
"We both agreed," Rock later recalled, "that Blair coming meant that we [Conservatives] would be fucked." A decade and a half later, even after Cameron's three highly successful years at the helm ofthe Conservative Party, Rock and Cameron must take no satisfaction from the accuracy ofthat prediction. Their party was once the Western world's most formidable election-winn...See the full content of this document
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