Territorial politics

Abstract

As Jim Bulpitt noted, ‘for the Conservative Party the United Kingdom is, and always has been, a particularly difficult piece of political real estate to manage’ (1982: 144). The party nevertheless historically negotiated these difficulties with such skill that its territorial politics were regarded as ‘one of the most consistently successful aspects of its statecraft’ (Gamble, 1995: 14). During the Thatcher and Major premierships however, the Conservatives encountered increasing difficulties in their management of territorial politics. The result was the destruction of the party’s base in local government (Railings et al, 2002), followed by electoral annihilation in Scotland and Wales in the 1997 general election.