PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION

‘There haven’t been a lot of good books published about the Conservative Party in recent years, but Tim Bale has written one that fills the gap . . . he tells the story well, combining breezy prose with academic rigour and anecdotes from the key participants.’

Andrew Sparrow, Guardian.co.uk

‘A wonderful insightful account of the Conservative Party from the denouement of Margaret Thatcher’s leadership in 1989/90 through to the ascent of David Cameron.’

Party Politics

‘A hugely impressive achievement – and required reading for anyone who wants to understand the party most likely to run Britain in the new decade.’

Sunday Business Post

‘Excellent . . . a very useful first account of how the oldest and most successful political party in the western world lost its electoral advantage and then, finally, took years to find its way again.’

Total Politics

‘An intelligent and informative account of the Party’s decline from 1990 to its recovery from 2005 onwards. This is a refreshing and hugely enjoyable study which brings the subject matter and dramatis personae to life, written by a highly respected political scientist who has interviewed many of the people involved, and who also has a wry sense of humour which makes his writing sparkle.’

Politics & Policy

‘A highly insightful, and often very funny, commentary on the party’s dysfunctionality in the post-Thatcher era.’

Irish Times

‘A detailed yet splendidly readable study.’

British Politics

‘In his new, rather good book, the academic Tim Bale provides a history of the Tories in the 15 years that preceded Mr Cameron’s ascent. Read it and it isn’t hard to work out the party’s problem.’

Daniel Finkelstein, The Times

‘For a contemporary history of British politics, deliciously free of the jargon which usually masks the failure of academics to understand their subject, you will read nothing better than this.’

Tribune

‘A mountain of insights about the tiny amount of space in which political leaders make their moves.’

Independent Arts and Books Supplement

‘[An] exhaustive and authoritative account.’

London Review of Books

‘A solid, meticulous account.’

Financial Times

‘It’s hard to think of anyone with an interest in British politics who will not enjoy, and profit from, Tim Bale’s outstanding book. His chapters on the Hague and Duncan Smith years in particular – the latter a man for whom the word “hapless” could almost have been invented – form a kind of “how not to do it” manual for any political party in opposition. I suspect Messrs Miliband and Balls have already ordered theirs.’

Waterstones.com Bookseller’s Review

‘Contains the best account so far of the “decontamination” strategy pursued by Cameron after his surprise win in the leadership contest of 2005.’

Progress

‘Bale provides a well-researched and very readable account of [his] thesis.’

Times Higher Education

‘Bale’s book is a useful reminder of the chronology of the main political events, often stormy, which have taken place over the past 20 years.’

House Magazine

‘Tim Bale’s book firmly avoids “big picture” explanantions focused on single issues like “sleaze” or Europe, and instead offers a detailed analytical narrative of the party leadership from the fall of Thatcher to the rise of Cameron. Bale in essence updates the old approach of High Politics, epitomized by the late Maurice Cowling, in which political history is the actions of a narrow band of senior politicians, and fuses this with a modern social scientist’s understanding of the interrelationship between ideas, interests, and insitutions.’

Planet Magazine

‘Tim Bale’s study of the death and re-birth of the post-Thatcher Conservative Party is a delight to read. It is perky, cheeky, irreverent, packed with revealing quotes and in places deliciously funny. But Bale is not just an entertaining guide to the tribulations of the accident-prone Conservative leaders of the recent past. Only half-concealed by his jaunty prose and witty asides is a thorough scholar and insightful analyst. His anatomy of the modern Conservative Party will hold the field for a long time to come.’

David Marquand, University of Oxford

‘How did David Cameron find the key to success which the Tory Party has lost since 1997? Tim Bale’s book, while thoroughly readable, covers this subject more convincingly and in greater depth than most political journalists. He has done an excellent job.’

Douglas Hurd

‘Much the best book that has been written on the contemporary Conservative Party. Bale’s analysis is extremely impressive. It will make this book the leading book in the field, and very unlikely to be quickly surpassed.’

Andrew Gamble, University of Cambridge

‘Tim Bale’s well-researched volume is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the Conservative Party’s recent history. It is extremely accessible to the lay reader and chronicles not only some of the party’s darkest days, but also its rediscovery of the will to win under David Cameron.’

Jonathan Isaby, Co-Editor, ConservativeHome.com

‘Tim Bale has produced the best guide to the changing nature of the Conservative Party yet published. He appears to have read everything and spoken to everyone that matters to produce an eminently readable and interesting book. It should be required reading for all students of politics, as well as anyone wanting to know more about the contemporary Conservative Party.’

Philip Cowley

‘This is an excellent book immaculately researched. Tim Bale traces the downfall of the Conservative Party leading to the catastrophic defeat of 1997. He sheds new light on the party’s continuing slide, which was only conclusively ended when David Cameron became leader and moved back onto the centre ground of politics. He reveals the “villains” of the story – not least the ideologically driven commentators – but his central question goes wider. He asks how it was that a party which had consistently sought power through the years lost the will to win? It is a book which Conservative politicians would be well advised to read now that, at long last, they have the opportunity of returning to government.’

Norman Fowler

‘This is the first comprehensive treatment of the Conservative Party since Margaret Thatcher. The period has seen extraordinary changes in the Party’s fortunes and now we have a well-researched and balanced account of what happened.’

David Willetts

‘Now poised for national success again, Conservatives should treat Tim Bale’s timely account of their recent history as essential reading. Detailing the Party’s highs and lows, this book reminds us of the scale of the challenge that faced David Cameron’s new leadership, and illuminates his strategy for recovery.’

Jo-Anne Nadler, author of Too Nice to be a Tory

I am grateful to the Leverhulme Trust, whose generosity allowed me to make time to write the first edition of this book, as well as to all those politicians and staffers who have allowed me to interview them on and off the record. I would also like to record my thanks to all the journalists whose reports and insights have contributed hugely to my own grip on, and understanding of, recent events in the life of the Conservative Party – with especial gratitude going to Matthew d’Ancona of the Guardian, the Evening Standard, and Queen Mary University of London. The same goes for academics, many of whom are also friends and colleagues, and many of whom are involved with the Political Studies specialist group on Conservatives and Conservatism (http://psaconservatism.blogspot.co.uk/). Finally, of course, my thanks go to my family – Peter and Wendy (yes, really, they do exist) and Simon, and Jackie, Javier, Bel, and Jack.

When interviewees chose to speak off the record, their words or the information they imparted are not accorded a note, since to cite an anonymous and confidential interview would pointlessly take up space. For the same reason, once a book or article is cited in a chapter, it can be assumed to inform the account thereafter and is not cited again unless the text makes reference to a specific quote, fact, or idea. References to speeches are not routinely cited since their approximate date is given, thus allowing the reader to find them easily on http://www.conservatives.com/.

Chapter One

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost. . .. I am helpless.

It isn’t my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don’t see it.

I fall in again.

I can’t believe I am in this same place.

But, it isn’t my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in. . . it’s a habit. . . but,

my eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

Chapter Four

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

Chapter Five

I walk down another street.

Reprinted with the permission of Beyond Words/Atria, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. from THERE’S A HOLE IN MY SIDEWALK: THE ROMANCE OF SELF-DISCOVERY by Portia Nelson. Copyright © 1993 by Portia Nelson. All rights reserved.