Description: This book offers a concise survey of British politics in the postwar era. Now in a substantially expanded new edition, the author extends his exploration of the debate over consensus' up to the present day. Consensus politics' is the notion that for approximately a quarter of a century after 1945 there existed a broad measure of agreement between the major political parties about the role and objectives of government and the fundamental bases of policy, domestic and foreign. David Dutton examines the development of postwar politics and the ways in which it has been interpreted by historians, political scientists and politicians. He argues that after 1970 the consensus looked instantly fragile and shows how it gave away to a new style of politics in Britain. He also examines how the 1990s have seen a emergence of a new consensus under John Major, rising out of the ashes of the old.

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