The Tories and Europe

Book abstract:

This is an examination of one of the most contentious issues in British politics over the past thirty years. It traces the way in which the issue of Europe has led to the electoral disintegration of a party that had previously dominated British politics for a century. Europe has been the major cause of mounting discord and dissent within the party. The European issue has changed the Tory party forever and was a major factor in the party's landslide electoral defeat in 1997.

The Tories and Europe provides an important contribution to an understanding of post-war British politics and recent developments in the politics of the Conservative Party. It discusses the way in which growing integration in Europe has challenged many aspects and assumptions in British politics and in particular Tory politics. It also examines the way in which notions of sovereignty, integration and federalism have now become an implicit determinant of any future Tory agenda.

The chapters are: The Tories and the challenge of Europe; Conservatism and the concept of Europe: Tory politics and the European idea; Towards a Tory Europe? 1979-85: sovereignty, the budgetary issue and the single market; The realisation of Tory doubts 1985-90: integration, Bruges and the ERM; Tories in crisis 1990-97: federalism, Maastricht and electoral decline; The Tories, Europe and electoral defeat; Tories in opposition: Europe, New Labour and the Hague leadership.

This book will be of interest to all those interested in contemporary British politics, both as a book about Britain and the European Union and on the contemporary Conservative Party. Europeans interested in the peculiarities of Britain's response to European integration over the last thirty years will also find this text invaluable.

John Turner is Principal Lecturer in the Department of Politics at Oxford Brookes University.

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