British Conservative Leaders

This is a comprehensively updated new edition of the indispensable guide to the qualities and vulnerabilities of political leaders. As the party that has won wars, reversed recessions and held prime ministerial power more times than any other, the Conservatives have played an undoubtedly crucial role in the shaping of contemporary British society. And yet the leaders who have stood at its helm - from Sir Robert Peel to Rishi Sunak, via Benjamin Disraeli, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher - have steered the party vessel with enormously varying degrees of success, particularly latterly, when the short but destructive tenures of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have done much to damage the party's reputation for competence. This book considers the attributes and achievements of each leader in the context of their respective time and diplomatic landscape.