What went wrong with Britain?
An audit of Tory failure
Edited by Steven Kettell, Peter Kerr and Daniela Tepe
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Click Here to Buy from Your Preferred BooksellerBook Information
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 336
- Price: £20.00
- Published Date: July 2025
Description
A unflinching audit of the damage done by fourteen years of Conservative government.
What went wrong with Britain? presents a comprehensive account of the devastating legacy left by the Conservative government. Shining a light into every dark corner, the book exposes the full extent of the damage inflicted on the country's economy, social fabric and political integrity.
When the Conservatives were voted out of government in July 2024, they left behind a miserable record of rising poverty, inequality and division. This book reveals the forces that have driven the country to the point of crisis, from austerity and economic mismanagement to sheer political dysfunction. Each chapter offers new insights into the far-reaching consequences of government policies that prioritised ideology, personal ambition and party politics over the public good.
Examining the rise of populism, the politics of Brexit, the UK's response to the pandemic and the steady erosion of public trust, this shocking account of the legacy of Conservative government from 2010 to 2024 is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand exactly what went wrong with Britain.
Contents
Introduction: what went wrong with Britain? - Steven Kettell, Peter Kerr and Daniela Tepe
1 Talking the country up, talking the country down - Matthew Watson
2 Missing the crisis? - James Morrison
3 Covid, Brexit and the emergence of national populism - Owen Worth
4 The UK's chronic territorial condition - Jonathan Bradbury
5 The crisis in our NHS pre- and post-Covid - Allyson M. Pollock, James Lancaster and Louisa Harding Edgar
6 Who cares about care? - Juanita Elias, Ruth Pearson and Shirin M. Rai
7 Social care or social harm? - Tamsin Bowers-Brown, Andrew Brierley and Alexander Nunn
8 Cracks in the food system - Claire Thompson, Dianna Smith and Laura Hamilton
9 What happened to all the anti-racists? - John Narayan
10 Gender, austerity and crisis in an age of catastrophe - Frankie Rogan and Emma Foster
11 The Conservatives and the climate crisis - Neil Carter
12 The politics of debt and perpetual crisis - Johnna Montgomerie
13 Brexit and the crisis of British democracy - Jonathan Hopkin
14 Fighting back? - David Bailey
15 Security in Britain today - Lee Jarvis and Michael Lister
16 What's wrong with Britain and what's Britain got to do with it? - Colin Hay
Index
Editors
Steven Kettell is a Reader in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. He is a founder and co-executive editor of the journal British Politics.
Peter Kerr is an Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Birmingham. He is a founder and co-executive editor of the journal British Politics.
Daniela Tepe is a Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Liverpool. Her recent publications include The Fault Lines of Inequality and the Politics of Financialization (2022).