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Tory Nation: The Dark Legacy of the World's Most Successful Political Party
'A witty, lucid investigation into one of the great mysteries of our time' JONATHAN COE
‘Should be read and enjoyed by readers on the left, right and centre’ David Edgerton, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
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Why do British politics so often play out on the Tories’ terms? What does this say about our democracy?
In his revelatory book, Samuel Earle explores the roots of the current crisis and the real reasons for the Conservatives’ unsettling success, from their ruling-class origins in the eighteenth century and their disproportionate influence of the British press to their stranglehold over national identity. He sheds light on the Conservatives’ historic appeal among the working classes and why the Labour Party so often disappoints.
Tory Nation describes the making of Britain through one party’s astonishing power over us. It’s only by reaching into our history, Earle argues, that we can understand how we got here – and how we can find a way out.
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'Written with historical depth and literary flair' NEW STATESMAN
‘Earle has set out clearly and eloquently why our democracy is incapable of solving our political problems’ ROBERT VERKAIK, author of Posh Boys
‘Gripping and indispensable’ NESRINE MALIK, author of We Need New Stories
‘Should be read and enjoyed by readers on the left, right and centre’ David Edgerton, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
________________________________________________
Why do British politics so often play out on the Tories’ terms? What does this say about our democracy?
In his revelatory book, Samuel Earle explores the roots of the current crisis and the real reasons for the Conservatives’ unsettling success, from their ruling-class origins in the eighteenth century and their disproportionate influence of the British press to their stranglehold over national identity. He sheds light on the Conservatives’ historic appeal among the working classes and why the Labour Party so often disappoints.
Tory Nation describes the making of Britain through one party’s astonishing power over us. It’s only by reaching into our history, Earle argues, that we can understand how we got here – and how we can find a way out.
________________________________________________
'Written with historical depth and literary flair' NEW STATESMAN
‘Earle has set out clearly and eloquently why our democracy is incapable of solving our political problems’ ROBERT VERKAIK, author of Posh Boys
‘Gripping and indispensable’ NESRINE MALIK, author of We Need New Stories
303 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 4, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 12, 2024
What an outstanding dissection of the Tories’ history, the reasons for their enduring success and the establishment forces which help to keep them in power.
The analysis here carefully wove together history and politics to give a real account of how the Conservatives have made a concerted effort to conflate their own interest with the national interest, in order to dominate the political conversation.
A fantastic read, and one especially relevant in the context of the current general election campaign. Highly recommend for any politicos.
The analysis here carefully wove together history and politics to give a real account of how the Conservatives have made a concerted effort to conflate their own interest with the national interest, in order to dominate the political conversation.
A fantastic read, and one especially relevant in the context of the current general election campaign. Highly recommend for any politicos.
April 12, 2025
Depressing, but pretty insightful and very interesting to see the history of the party laid out like this.
One thing I'd have liked it to go more into is, he demonstrates that the Conservative Party has changed its identity many times, but what the continuity behind it really is? Because I think the key insight is that the tory party isn't a group of people who happen to think wealth and power should be preserved, it's an organisation created by wealth and power to serve their interests. Then I think the other conclusions follow pretty naturally from that?
One insight I found particularly interesting is that all the source materials Conservative ideology claims all explicitly rejected Conservatism - that it's not just that they're strayed away from Burke, or free markets, or any of the other sources,
One thing I'd have liked it to go more into is, he demonstrates that the Conservative Party has changed its identity many times, but what the continuity behind it really is? Because I think the key insight is that the tory party isn't a group of people who happen to think wealth and power should be preserved, it's an organisation created by wealth and power to serve their interests. Then I think the other conclusions follow pretty naturally from that?
One insight I found particularly interesting is that all the source materials Conservative ideology claims all explicitly rejected Conservatism - that it's not just that they're strayed away from Burke, or free markets, or any of the other sources,
May 14, 2023
I just finished reading 'Tory Nation: How one party took over' and wow - what an eye opening read it was! This book truly breaks down the British political system and how democracy and equality are being challenged by the Tories. It's an essential read for anyone who wants to understand British politics and the need for change.
June 25, 2023
I'd heard only good things about this book - that it was a brief history of the Conservative Party, that it critiqued the ideological underpinnings of British conservatism, and that it tried to get under the skin of the unprecedented electoral success of the party - and the myth that conservatism is a natural state for England, if not the rest of the UK.
First off - it's well-written: Earle's text is sharp, witty, and accessible. However, all too often it descends into a sort of sneering frustration which is usually directed at 'them'. Sometimes that means Austrian economists, sometimes the fathers of conservatism, most often the modern British party - but on too many occasions, the voters themselves. Earle dismissed Liberalism early in the book, and is clearly not content with the efforts of New Labour in 1997 despite their electoral success and subsequent shifts in social policy. He is suspicious of conservatism's claims to any form of progress, and is often scornful of attempts to woo voters away from the Tory party over the years.
Earle's diagnosis is interesting but flawed: it assumes some sort of 'design' being in place from the earliest days of the sprawling and competing strands of conservatism, which has found it's realisation in the populism and nationalism of Boris Johnson - a man who is about as far from Edmund Burke and Friedrich Hayek as it's possible to be in terms of intellect, intent and dignity. But this lineage doesn't hold true, and the book struggles to unite these themes - writing off the post-war consensus with little real interest once Atlee left No.10.
Later in the book Earle wears his heart on his sleeve a little more - his evident admiration for the further left elements of the Labour Party, his frustration that Britain has evolved rather than revolt it's way to democracy, and his frustration at being unable to provide a 'solution' indicate his wish was to excoriate rather than explain, and to return to the typical 'us and them' of political discourse which he set out to avoid at the book's beginning.
If you're a conservative who has examined the thought behind their views, you'll get little from this book. Likewise, if you date to be anywhere in the political centre, you'll find Earle views you with disdain and frustration as an enabler of the Torys. If you are the North London dwelling middle-class labour voter which he claims late in the text is a fictitious stereotype, you'll love this confirmatory book - it will warm your heart and make you feel that you're on the side of the angels.
I set out to be challenged, but frankly I was just a bit disappointed and frustrated by Tory Nation.
They say you should read things written by people who you disagree with, and that's certainly the case where this book is concerned.
First off - it's well-written: Earle's text is sharp, witty, and accessible. However, all too often it descends into a sort of sneering frustration which is usually directed at 'them'. Sometimes that means Austrian economists, sometimes the fathers of conservatism, most often the modern British party - but on too many occasions, the voters themselves. Earle dismissed Liberalism early in the book, and is clearly not content with the efforts of New Labour in 1997 despite their electoral success and subsequent shifts in social policy. He is suspicious of conservatism's claims to any form of progress, and is often scornful of attempts to woo voters away from the Tory party over the years.
Earle's diagnosis is interesting but flawed: it assumes some sort of 'design' being in place from the earliest days of the sprawling and competing strands of conservatism, which has found it's realisation in the populism and nationalism of Boris Johnson - a man who is about as far from Edmund Burke and Friedrich Hayek as it's possible to be in terms of intellect, intent and dignity. But this lineage doesn't hold true, and the book struggles to unite these themes - writing off the post-war consensus with little real interest once Atlee left No.10.
Later in the book Earle wears his heart on his sleeve a little more - his evident admiration for the further left elements of the Labour Party, his frustration that Britain has evolved rather than revolt it's way to democracy, and his frustration at being unable to provide a 'solution' indicate his wish was to excoriate rather than explain, and to return to the typical 'us and them' of political discourse which he set out to avoid at the book's beginning.
If you're a conservative who has examined the thought behind their views, you'll get little from this book. Likewise, if you date to be anywhere in the political centre, you'll find Earle views you with disdain and frustration as an enabler of the Torys. If you are the North London dwelling middle-class labour voter which he claims late in the text is a fictitious stereotype, you'll love this confirmatory book - it will warm your heart and make you feel that you're on the side of the angels.
I set out to be challenged, but frankly I was just a bit disappointed and frustrated by Tory Nation.
They say you should read things written by people who you disagree with, and that's certainly the case where this book is concerned.
July 9, 2024
A concise yet comprehensive history of the Tory Party, one of the longest-lasting and most successful political parties in the world.
Earle does an amazing job of explaining how the Conservative Party has survived, and exposing the pillars that prop it up, including the continual absorption of the successful into the Conservative hierarchy-if not the Party itself, then experiencing the benefits of the hierarchy that the Party represents-and the constant repositioning of the Party to benefit itself with the message of the day; how the Tories present themselves as the party of patriotism, prosperity, and prejudice, benefitting from all three aspects; how the so-called "free press" functions more as a propaganda network than a field holding the powerful to account; an opposition that is alternatively hopelessly naive, incredibly short-sighted, or has in fact co-opted Conservative language and talking points for their own benefit, advancing Conservatism even with the Party itself in opposition; and finally, defining the debate to the very point where ANY deviation outside of the correct viewpoint-ie, the Conservative one-is not merely incorrect, but mad, alien, and dangerous to the people and the country.
It's evident that the Conservatives represent a minority viewpoint, yet they've been able to present themselves as the natural majority, their right to rule unquestionable. Earle does an excellent job demonstrating how that edifice has been built, and the forces that keep it standing.
There are some frankly disturbing anecdotes in here, the most prominent of which being that the armed forces AND the royals were both involved in a discussion of a coup again Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the 1960's, and that the military and the intelligence services were briefing against Labour Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn in the 2010's.
Regardless of your opinion of those two men, the very idea that the unelected monarchy, along with the military and the security services, were even discussing the idea of opposition to a democratically-elected leader who represents the people, is not a sign of a properly functioning democratic society.
Yet, to add to that, Earle makes the point that, in certain regards, Britain's democracy isn't a properly functioning one. He points to the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system of votes, the unelected and unelectable House of Lords, and the very culture inculcated by the press and the English upper-class as being undemocratic, or at the very least not embracing the full idea of a true democratic society. There's a LOT to be discussed in how a narrative has been built, over decades-generations, really-of the idea of England, and how that idea is based on Conservative ideals and philosophies.
This book was written while the Conservatives were in power, and I've read it after they've just suffered their worst loss in a hundred years. So it will be interesting to see how the Conservatives position themselves to regain power in the aftermath of a crushing loss, though not an exinction event. Can they regain the sensible center? Will they move right to co-opt gains against Reform? Or will they themselves be co-opted BY Reform? Only time will tell.
One final note. While Earle is writing specifically about the Conservative Party of the UK, it is obvious that a lot of what he writes applies to conservative parties generally, especially in the U.S. Lessons learned here can easily be applied to over the pond.
Earle does an amazing job of explaining how the Conservative Party has survived, and exposing the pillars that prop it up, including the continual absorption of the successful into the Conservative hierarchy-if not the Party itself, then experiencing the benefits of the hierarchy that the Party represents-and the constant repositioning of the Party to benefit itself with the message of the day; how the Tories present themselves as the party of patriotism, prosperity, and prejudice, benefitting from all three aspects; how the so-called "free press" functions more as a propaganda network than a field holding the powerful to account; an opposition that is alternatively hopelessly naive, incredibly short-sighted, or has in fact co-opted Conservative language and talking points for their own benefit, advancing Conservatism even with the Party itself in opposition; and finally, defining the debate to the very point where ANY deviation outside of the correct viewpoint-ie, the Conservative one-is not merely incorrect, but mad, alien, and dangerous to the people and the country.
It's evident that the Conservatives represent a minority viewpoint, yet they've been able to present themselves as the natural majority, their right to rule unquestionable. Earle does an excellent job demonstrating how that edifice has been built, and the forces that keep it standing.
There are some frankly disturbing anecdotes in here, the most prominent of which being that the armed forces AND the royals were both involved in a discussion of a coup again Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the 1960's, and that the military and the intelligence services were briefing against Labour Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn in the 2010's.
Regardless of your opinion of those two men, the very idea that the unelected monarchy, along with the military and the security services, were even discussing the idea of opposition to a democratically-elected leader who represents the people, is not a sign of a properly functioning democratic society.
Yet, to add to that, Earle makes the point that, in certain regards, Britain's democracy isn't a properly functioning one. He points to the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system of votes, the unelected and unelectable House of Lords, and the very culture inculcated by the press and the English upper-class as being undemocratic, or at the very least not embracing the full idea of a true democratic society. There's a LOT to be discussed in how a narrative has been built, over decades-generations, really-of the idea of England, and how that idea is based on Conservative ideals and philosophies.
This book was written while the Conservatives were in power, and I've read it after they've just suffered their worst loss in a hundred years. So it will be interesting to see how the Conservatives position themselves to regain power in the aftermath of a crushing loss, though not an exinction event. Can they regain the sensible center? Will they move right to co-opt gains against Reform? Or will they themselves be co-opted BY Reform? Only time will tell.
One final note. While Earle is writing specifically about the Conservative Party of the UK, it is obvious that a lot of what he writes applies to conservative parties generally, especially in the U.S. Lessons learned here can easily be applied to over the pond.
March 15, 2024
“Above all, Conservatism is the historic creed of Britain’s ruling class”. Over 8 well-written chapters, Earle covers Britain’s historical conservatism and ruling class hegemony, Tory flirtations with the far right, the role of the press, the Labour party’s successes and (mainly) failures to gain power, and finally a blow-by-blow account of events between the Brexit referendum in 2016 and the chaos of Covid and beyond.
There were lots of interesting insights here: the intertwining of national identity and conservative viewpoints (making it difficult for Labour to challenge the status quo); the Tories’ “fundamentally anti-democratic” bent (through support of hereditary institutions like the monarchy and House of Lords, opposition to voting reform); their ‘cult of common sense’ that serves to legitimise ruling class interests without having to spell them out; anxiety induced by Britain’s ‘fading superpower status’ after WWII and scapegoating of immigrants and other groups; and how the Tories’ austerity agenda plays directly into the ‘valorisation of hardship’ (stiff upper lip, keep calm and carry on – again, key to national identity).
Clearly this is a book written by someone unsympathetic to the Tory project, though I found Earle’s criticism - on both sides of the political divide - persuasive and even-keeled.
There were lots of interesting insights here: the intertwining of national identity and conservative viewpoints (making it difficult for Labour to challenge the status quo); the Tories’ “fundamentally anti-democratic” bent (through support of hereditary institutions like the monarchy and House of Lords, opposition to voting reform); their ‘cult of common sense’ that serves to legitimise ruling class interests without having to spell them out; anxiety induced by Britain’s ‘fading superpower status’ after WWII and scapegoating of immigrants and other groups; and how the Tories’ austerity agenda plays directly into the ‘valorisation of hardship’ (stiff upper lip, keep calm and carry on – again, key to national identity).
Clearly this is a book written by someone unsympathetic to the Tory project, though I found Earle’s criticism - on both sides of the political divide - persuasive and even-keeled.
September 4, 2024
This was an excellent read for such a seemingly dry subject. The author frames his arguments well in terms of class division, newspaper bias’s and the old boy networks of public schools , university and the financial markets. Yet it is the fundamentals of Conservatism that make the casual reader take notice. At once seeming to champion the ordinary/working person while keeping its upper class base firmly onside by actively supporting its billionaire donors. Donal Trump would call this the swamp but all political parties wallow in it to a greater or lesser extent. New Labour or Conservatives Lite were just as bad in the early part of the century. Book to read again.
August 28, 2024
Very insightful and easy to read. I’ve always wanted to learn more about UK party politics and I’m so glad I picked up this book! The history of the Tory Party and its ability to consistently shape-shift its image is both fascinating and depressing. Earle does a great job describing why the Conservatives have been so successful and how Labour has (at times) been very self destructive. Extremely interesting account of UK politics!
November 12, 2024
This was a really solid book on the history of the Conservative Party and why they remained in power for so long. I really enjoyed it and it illuminated some new points. This is a 5 star in terms of the information. I liked how critical this was and I just had a good time with this. I liked the reflections on the monarchy and it’s never been more clear to me how bad the conservatives are for working people.
December 22, 2024
It was a good and deep understanding of who the Torys are, even if you like me don’t know a lot about British politics.
It both get to be a good introduction to the torys and the British politics and how strongly politics and culture can be intertwined without being shallow, but on the other side I would say that you need to know a bit more than average about political theory… because he does use a lot of different terminology that might otherwise not be fully understandable.
It both get to be a good introduction to the torys and the British politics and how strongly politics and culture can be intertwined without being shallow, but on the other side I would say that you need to know a bit more than average about political theory… because he does use a lot of different terminology that might otherwise not be fully understandable.
March 25, 2024
History will repeat itself, first as tragedy, then as culture wars. A sweeping and readable history, which brings in Labour's victories too, with very good chapters on patriotism, the press and the current state of Britain. Paperback out now.
September 23, 2026
To quote the epigraph: this book is an acknowledgement of the vision, flexibility, sophistication, and unwavering determination of those who have dedicated their lives to keeping the world safe for capitalism.
July 21, 2023
Witty, powerful and well written 🔥🔥🔥
June 23, 2024
soooo well written and interesting,
wish i had read this before my politics exam papers
wish i had read this before my politics exam papers
July 7, 2025
Very well researched and an entertaining read.
I thoroughly enjoyed it - one of the best political books I've read - on pare with All Out War by Tim Shipman
I thoroughly enjoyed it - one of the best political books I've read - on pare with All Out War by Tim Shipman
August 8, 2025
En god historisk gjennomgang av toryene og deres metoder, med en lettfattet og kritisk analyse av hva konservatisme egentlig er for noe. Anbefales!
July 22, 2026
basically "how the Tories did cultural hegemony" - good book tbf
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews