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British General Election Campaigns 1830-2019
This remarkable book, edited by one of the UK's leading political commentators, takes us on a deep dive through nearly 200 years of British political history in its most dramatic the general election.
The British general election is the linchpin of our liberal democracy, and its results are often fundamental to how we live.
From the general election of 1830, at which electoral reform was the centrepiece issue, to the so-called Brexit election of 2019, Iain Dale delivers a showcase of all fifty general elections, with an essay for each written by key political writers including John Curtice, Julia Langdon, Simon Heffer, Peter Snow, Sue Cameron, Vernon Bogdanor, Adam Boulton and many others.
The British general election is the linchpin of our liberal democracy, and its results are often fundamental to how we live.
From the general election of 1830, at which electoral reform was the centrepiece issue, to the so-called Brexit election of 2019, Iain Dale delivers a showcase of all fifty general elections, with an essay for each written by key political writers including John Curtice, Julia Langdon, Simon Heffer, Peter Snow, Sue Cameron, Vernon Bogdanor, Adam Boulton and many others.
700 pages, Hardcover
First published March 26, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 20, 2025
The election we had three weeks ago resulted in a landslide win for Labour with a majority of 174 seats, the third largest ever for a single party. Does this mean that all of Britain is in love with Sir Keir Starmer? No, of course not. It was a clear case of let’s turn the rascally Conservatives out, we are tired of looking at their faces, we need some new rascals to abuse.
It was a foregone conclusion, and a clean end to the political soap opera the Conservatives had been offering to the baffled British ever since the dread iceberg Brexit loomed up on the horizon. Brexit terminated the careers of David Cameron and Theresa May and projected the unserious Boris Johnson into Number Ten who then was thrown out by his own party for partying, who then foisted the shortest serving prime minister Liz Truss onto us (50 days) who was then also thrown out by her own party, who finally came up with Rishi Sunak, a guy who appears in the Sunday Times Rich List ahead of King Charles III in personal wealth. He probably wasn’t bad at the job but he ran the worst campaign and lost 251 seats, which is really a lot.
But some elections are a total surprise, like 1945. Whoever would have thought that the nation would have booted out their beloved wartime leader the great inimitable Winston Churchill in favour of a mousy man, Clement Attlee, described by Winston himself as “modest, with a lot to be modest about”?
Not all elections are equal – some are fascinating, some are dreadfully dull. One was described as “the lull before the lull”. And likewise some of these 50 essays are dry as dust but the majority are excellent, if you’re something of a political geek. If you prefer high fantasy or dark romance you probably aren’t going to pick up a book called British General Election Campaigns 1830-2019.
The further back you go the less comprehensible are the issues which raised passions – a lot of elections were all about whether Home Rule for Ireland would be the end of civilisation as we know it. There was the Zinoviev Letter (an early political prank). There was the Boer War.
And there was tariffs versus free trade - some ancient argument nobody would ever make anymore - oh wait, what's that you say? Really? Tariffs are the new drug of choice? You don't say so! How very 19th century!
I wouldn’t advise reading this huge book all the way through, there are so many facts in it your head will fill to capacity. Some of the facts cascading forth do catch the eye – here’s a favourite –
There were fewer than 2 million cars on British roads but 5256 fatalities in 1945…in September 2023 there were 41.3 million cars licensed in the UK and 1633 people killed in road accidents that year.
The terrible loss of life on roads in 1945 is partly explained by the government having suspended driving tests at the outbreak of war as driving instructors were redeployed to supervise fuel rationing.
If you’re contemplating reading this you’ll be glad to know that each essay isn’t strictly about the campaign itself, it recaps the events of the years since the previous election, so you get a potted political history of the UK as well as the ins and outs of the campaigns.
Iain Dale specialises in this excellent type of essay collection – I already read his books The Presidents and The Prime Ministers and recommend those too. (And he has such a way with catchy titles too.)
So : highly recommended!
It was a foregone conclusion, and a clean end to the political soap opera the Conservatives had been offering to the baffled British ever since the dread iceberg Brexit loomed up on the horizon. Brexit terminated the careers of David Cameron and Theresa May and projected the unserious Boris Johnson into Number Ten who then was thrown out by his own party for partying, who then foisted the shortest serving prime minister Liz Truss onto us (50 days) who was then also thrown out by her own party, who finally came up with Rishi Sunak, a guy who appears in the Sunday Times Rich List ahead of King Charles III in personal wealth. He probably wasn’t bad at the job but he ran the worst campaign and lost 251 seats, which is really a lot.
But some elections are a total surprise, like 1945. Whoever would have thought that the nation would have booted out their beloved wartime leader the great inimitable Winston Churchill in favour of a mousy man, Clement Attlee, described by Winston himself as “modest, with a lot to be modest about”?
Not all elections are equal – some are fascinating, some are dreadfully dull. One was described as “the lull before the lull”. And likewise some of these 50 essays are dry as dust but the majority are excellent, if you’re something of a political geek. If you prefer high fantasy or dark romance you probably aren’t going to pick up a book called British General Election Campaigns 1830-2019.
The further back you go the less comprehensible are the issues which raised passions – a lot of elections were all about whether Home Rule for Ireland would be the end of civilisation as we know it. There was the Zinoviev Letter (an early political prank). There was the Boer War.
And there was tariffs versus free trade - some ancient argument nobody would ever make anymore - oh wait, what's that you say? Really? Tariffs are the new drug of choice? You don't say so! How very 19th century!
I wouldn’t advise reading this huge book all the way through, there are so many facts in it your head will fill to capacity. Some of the facts cascading forth do catch the eye – here’s a favourite –
There were fewer than 2 million cars on British roads but 5256 fatalities in 1945…in September 2023 there were 41.3 million cars licensed in the UK and 1633 people killed in road accidents that year.
The terrible loss of life on roads in 1945 is partly explained by the government having suspended driving tests at the outbreak of war as driving instructors were redeployed to supervise fuel rationing.
If you’re contemplating reading this you’ll be glad to know that each essay isn’t strictly about the campaign itself, it recaps the events of the years since the previous election, so you get a potted political history of the UK as well as the ins and outs of the campaigns.
Iain Dale specialises in this excellent type of essay collection – I already read his books The Presidents and The Prime Ministers and recommend those too. (And he has such a way with catchy titles too.)
So : highly recommended!
April 20, 2024
Two stars might be slightly unfair for a book chock full of some really good essays on specific elections (such as 1950 and 1951, elections often neglected in terms of the attention they receive). However, too much of this books is repetitive, the nature of having 50 individual essays by 50 separate authors does not help the first ten or so from feeling like their authors are doing there best to pad them out (the mention of elections being held over weeks not a single day as though it is new information each time is grating). The book really shines once it hits the Gladstone Disraeli era and continues in its stride until the mid 1970's. The essays in this section of the book provide excellent nuanced history from people with a variety of political perspectives and understandings about the key issues and factors influencing electoral outcomes. Here however lies my second major issue. The essays focused around elections where Thatcher lead the conservatives, the essay on 1979 is a particularly significant culprit, are borderline hagiographic. It does not help that several of the essays written by current or former conservative politicians appear to me to miss the point of writing essays analysing elections, preferring to discuss in one case how Thatchers policy's wished to 'reverse the decline which many in her party only wished to manage'. What such an assertion has to do with an outcome in a general election beyond an 'I reckon' approach is beyond me. Having recently read the Nuffield Election study of 1983, it's evident that analysis can be nuanced and devastating towards a political party (in this case Labour) without descending into outright cheerleading. Iain Dales own essay on 1959 demonstrates it is perfectly possible for someone with clear party political perspectives to write good nuanced history. The book picks up again into the 1990's with a particular highlight here being Adam Boultons recollections around 2010 including the innovation of TV debates but nose dives again with the essay on 2017 adopting the traditional approach of treating the election as not signifying much other than an anomaly thrown up by Theresa Mays poor performance
Worth reading for the Late Victorian to Mid post war sections, skip the rest
Worth reading for the Late Victorian to Mid post war sections, skip the rest
April 13, 2024
This book consists of a collection of fifty essays about General Election campaigns from 1930 (Prime Minister the Duke of Wellington) to 2019 (Boris Johnson). In between are wars, conflicts, and political giants, from Gladstone and Disraeli, through Asquith, Churchill and Thatcher.
Of course, the essays range in terms of interest. Some, where the elections results are extreme, are obviously more interesting. However, much of which is fascinating is the way in which British politics so often pulled back from the extreme. For example, when France saw revolution, Britain was swift to enact the Great Reform Act. Still, when this book begins, voting was something which was only allowed to men, and only a very few of those. It takes time for voting to be more democratic and it is interesting to see the shifts of parties and allegiances and alliances over time.
A very good read as we head into a year which will see another General Election and which, whatever result you may wish to see, will just remind you that these shifts happen periodically so that politics can reset, realign and settle. One thing history shows is that whatever happens, it has happened before and that the process of democracy will result in key issues or discontent causing political change. Democracy is not perfect, but it is the best imperfect system and it works well. In some countries this process is under attack and should be protected at all costs. At the end of the day democracy is more important that who is in power for a short time.
Of course, the essays range in terms of interest. Some, where the elections results are extreme, are obviously more interesting. However, much of which is fascinating is the way in which British politics so often pulled back from the extreme. For example, when France saw revolution, Britain was swift to enact the Great Reform Act. Still, when this book begins, voting was something which was only allowed to men, and only a very few of those. It takes time for voting to be more democratic and it is interesting to see the shifts of parties and allegiances and alliances over time.
A very good read as we head into a year which will see another General Election and which, whatever result you may wish to see, will just remind you that these shifts happen periodically so that politics can reset, realign and settle. One thing history shows is that whatever happens, it has happened before and that the process of democracy will result in key issues or discontent causing political change. Democracy is not perfect, but it is the best imperfect system and it works well. In some countries this process is under attack and should be protected at all costs. At the end of the day democracy is more important that who is in power for a short time.
October 30, 2025
Fascinating but...
Repetitive. Disclosure: I stood in two GEs for the LDs.
The essays are uneven, but by far the worst is the account of 2017. 2019, written by an academic, has a sense of proportion and context. 2017 reads like an extended attempt to convince the reader that the Tories were Right All Along In Everything...
The other personal peeve is how many elections are noted as the end of liberalism (to be fair between 1950 and 1992 there isn't much to write home about for the liberals but they didn't die).
Overall very interesting, and as a campaigner the final essay on campaigning was fascinating.
I have highlighted the issues but note the rating. Not a book to read all at once, but to be dipped into over time.
Repetitive. Disclosure: I stood in two GEs for the LDs.
The essays are uneven, but by far the worst is the account of 2017. 2019, written by an academic, has a sense of proportion and context. 2017 reads like an extended attempt to convince the reader that the Tories were Right All Along In Everything...
The other personal peeve is how many elections are noted as the end of liberalism (to be fair between 1950 and 1992 there isn't much to write home about for the liberals but they didn't die).
Overall very interesting, and as a campaigner the final essay on campaigning was fascinating.
I have highlighted the issues but note the rating. Not a book to read all at once, but to be dipped into over time.
September 20, 2024
Little by little
An excellent overview of elections over nearly 200 years. Easy to digest for 10 minutes and then dip back into at a later date. Some accounts are self serving but no less interesting. Others hype up what we know were damp squib elections.
The major gripe is the title being randomly interspersed into text for no reason, making some sentences incomprehensible. But these are minor quibbles. Well worth a read.
An excellent overview of elections over nearly 200 years. Easy to digest for 10 minutes and then dip back into at a later date. Some accounts are self serving but no less interesting. Others hype up what we know were damp squib elections.
The major gripe is the title being randomly interspersed into text for no reason, making some sentences incomprehensible. But these are minor quibbles. Well worth a read.
May 2, 2025
Of the fifty elections covered in essays, 48 are fascinating & pretty non partisan despite the backgrounds of the various authors. The ones though by Adam Boulton & Stephen Parkinson rather spoil the whole being so self serving & badly written compared with the others. Editor Iain Daleshould have clamped down tighter on those two.
May 19, 2025
With each chapter written by a different author, the book does quite a good job of maintaining quality consistency throughout. Some chapters were, in my opinion, a bit too long or too informative. Personal preference, again, belongs to the more modern, post-1945, elections and I enjoyed those chapters more. Nonetheless, it is a good & interesting book which brings on further, personal, research.
September 7, 2024
This was good. A collection of essays analysing the effect of each of the general election campaigns featured on society as a whole. A little nineteenth century heavy, I would maybe have preferred longer essays on more modern election campaigns. Interesting though.
July 2, 2024
Very enjoyable and a great book to read in the days approaching the likely historic 2024 general election
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January 4, 2025Couldn’t finish it.
Don’t think the premise is compelling enough to warrant a book of this size and with the different authors, there’s a lot of repetitive stuff going on.
Don’t think the premise is compelling enough to warrant a book of this size and with the different authors, there’s a lot of repetitive stuff going on.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews