British Conservative Leaders (British Leaders) by

Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781849549707
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Published: 2015-09-08T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

WINSTON CHURCHILL

JOHN CHARMLEY

Churchill’s electoral record shows two defeats – one by a landslide in 1945 and the other by a narrow margin in 1950 – and a single slender victory in 1951, in seats but not in the popular vote. As John Charmley notes, Churchill was unique in being given a third attempt after twice failing electorally. If not counter-intuitively, then certainly against the enduring common perception, Charmley argues that his leadership of the Conservative Party was more negative than this mixed record suggests. His electoral strategy was bereft of fresh ideas in 1945, and any reforms in organisation of the party’s platform emanated from below, rather than from his leadership. Charmley contends that Churchill’s management of the party was, at best, ‘light touch’, and, at worst, non-existent. In domestic policy debate, the Conservative Party did little to shift debate onto their terms; though, in foreign policy terms, his influence continued to be felt throughout the post-war period. Churchill’s record as a party leader is, on balance, one of failure.

• • •

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.