I'm delighted to be joined on this one by Ollie Webb-Carter, host of The Aspects of History Podcast.  In this crossover episode, we take on the hefty topic of The Falklands War.

How did Britain get drawn into a war on a small set of islands 8000 miles away? How did the conflict play domestically in Britain - both in the House of Commons, the media, and the wider public?

We chat about all this and much more, touching on the major milestones of the war whilst stitching our own reflections into the narrative as we go.

Link to Ollie's podcast: https://aspectsofhistory.com/podcasts/ 

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Why did the Labour Party lose the 1983 election and what changes did the party make to put itself back on the path to recovery?

We're joined by another real expert on the period for this episode - associate professor Danny Rye from Liverpool Hope University - to tackle these questions and more!

Reading Suggestions

Drucker, H.M., (1979) Doctrine and ethos in the Labour Party (Vol. 12). Routledge.

Hayter, D., 2005. Fightback!: Labour's Traditional Right in the 1970s and 1980s. Manchester University Press.

Panitch, L. and Leys, C., 2001. The end of parliamentary socialism: from new left to new labour. Verso.

Pugh, M., 2010. Speak for Britain!: A new history of the labour party. Random House.

Russell, M., 2005. Building New Labour: The politics of party organisation. Springer.

Shaw, E., 2002. The Labour party since 1979: Crisis and transformation. Routledge.

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Ever wonder how political campaigns have transformed over the years?

Discover how political marketing has embraced corporate strategies, as we analyse the image management and PR tactics of iconic leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. Learn about how the introduction of television altered politicians' presentations and the roles played by public relations experts like Tim Bell in shaping campaigns.

Finally, we explore the professionalisation of modern political campaigns and ponder the future of this ever-changing landscape, including the greater use of voter profiling and data-driven campaigns.

For an overview of the air war:

Rosenbaum, M. (2016). From soapbox to soundbite: Party political campaigning in Britain since 1945. Springer.

Developments in the ground war in the later years are documented in:

Denver, D., & Hands, G. (2013). Modern constituency electioneering: Local campaigning in the 1992 general election. Routledge.

One of the best studies of the influences of marketing and public relations is:

Scammell, M. (2016). Designer politics: How elections are won. Springer.

For an overview of the psychology of campaigning see:

Lilleker, D. (2014). Political Communication and Cognition. Springer.

Finally,  a work on spin and New Labour from an ex-BBC journalist:

Jones, N. (2000). Sultans of spin: the media and the New Labour government Orion Books.

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What if we told you that the often overlooked aspect of party finance plays a critical role in shaping British politics? As we dive into the historical landscape of political funding, our guest Justin Fisher from Brunel University brings his 35 years of expertise in political science to help us unravel the complexities and motivations behind political donations.

Throughout the episode, we examine the roles of trade unions, businesses, and individual contributions in shaping the political landscape and highlight the major differences between how the Conservative and Labour parties have been financed over the years. Furthermore, we tackle the subject of transparency in political finance and its implications on public trust.

In the final part of our conversation, we venture into the topic of greater state funding for political parties, weighing the pros and cons of such a model and how it could be implemented.

To learn more about Justin and his research you can find him at Professor Justin Fisher | Introduction | Brunel University London.

We hope you enjoy the podcast! 

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“Economics are the method, the object is to change the soul” - Margaret Thatcher (1981)

What were the various tensions and contradictions between free markets and social conservatism in the 1980s? How did these manifest in the culture, music, and media of the time?  

In this episode, I’m joined by author and historian Alwyn Turner to ponder these questions amongst many others. In this wide-ranging discussion, we run the gamut from monetarism and Milton Friedman to Band Aid, Only Fools and Horses and much more.  

We hope you enjoy the podcast! 

* You can also find out more about Alwyn and his work on his website here: http://www.alwynwturner.com/ 

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In this episode we hear from Dr Athanassios Gouglas on the subject of special advisors. Dr Gouglas is a politics lecturer at the university of Exeter and you can find out more about his research here: https://politics.exeter.ac.uk/staff/gouglas/

In the coversation we cover why special advisors came into being, the benefits and tensions they produce in the system, and more!

Dr Gouglas kindly supplied the following reading suggestions for those keen to go deeper into the topic:

United Kingdom

• Blick, A. (2004). People who live in the dark. The history of the special adviser in British politics. London : Politico's, 2004.
• Yong, B. & Hazell, R. (2014). Special Advisers: Who they are, what they do and why they matter. Oxford and Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing.
• Orchard D, Gouglas A, Pickering H (2023). Life after Whitehall: the career moves of British special advisers. British Journal of Politics and International Relations Abstract. DOI.https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481221144228

Internationally comparative

• Shaw, R. (eds) (2023) Handbook of Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward-Elgar. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-ministerial-and-political-advisers-9781800886575.html
• Gouglas, A. (2023). The story so far: what we know (and don’t know) about ministerial advisers. In Richard Shaw (eds) (2023) Handbook of Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward-Elgar. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-ministerial-and-political-advisers-9781800886575.html
• Gouglas, A. (forthcoming). Political Advisers in Modern Democracies. Dark Masters? Edward-Elgar.
• Meert, A., Pickering, H. Brans, M. Gouglas, A. (2023). ‘Systematic literature reviews: opportunities and limits in ministerial adviser research’. In Richard Shaw (eds) (2023) Handbook of Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward-Elgar. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-ministerial

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This episode has Dr Chris Kirkland joining the podcast to speak on crises in the 1970s, with a particular focus on their link to the Labour Party. Chris is a lecturer in politics at York St John University and has published monographs comparing crises in modern British Politics and exploring how crises have shaped the UK Labour party’s economic ideology. 

We had a really fascinating conversation and below are some reading recommendations for those interested to learn more. For those wanting something for the general reader there's: 

• Beckett, A. (2009) When the Lights went Out: Britain in the Seventies Faber and Faber: London  
• Sandbrook, D. Seasons in the Sun: The Battle for Britain, 1974-1979.

And for those wanting a more academic perspective: 

• Brittan, S. (1975) The Economic Consequences of Democracy (1977) Temple Smith: London 
• Kirkland, C. (2022) Labour’s Economic Ideology: Developed Through Crises Bristol University Press: Bristol 
• Lopez, T. M. (2014) The Winter of Discontent: Myth, Memory and History Liverpool University Press: Liverpool

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This episode takes a look at a few aspects of Margaret Thatcher: her personality, her philosophy, her approach to tax and spend and the poll tax.

Links to research materials used in the making of this one:

• Sections of Part 1 of Charles Moore's biography on Thatcher: https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/charles-moore/margaret-thatcher/9780140279566 
• Sections of Part 2 of Charles Moore's biography on Thatcher: https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/charles-moore/margaret-thatcher/9780140279627
• Robin Harris' biography of Thatcher: https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/robin-harris/not-for-turning/9780552155793
• Prime Ministerial podcast from the New Statesman on Thatcher: https://www.newstatesman.com/podcasts/new-statesman-podcast/2022/01/was-margeret-thatcher-a-good-prime-minisiter
• The Presidents & Prime Ministers with Iain Dale - episode on Thatcher: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/margaret-thatcher/id1535436589?i=1000538154746

In this episode, we take a deep dive into John Major the man, Major's overall vision for the country and his approach to the economy and public services.

Time stamps:

0-18:20 - John Major the man, his vision for the country and differences to Margaret Thatcher
18:20 - 28:27 - How the Major government managed the economy
28:27 to end - Public services and the Major Government

 For this episode my main sources of inspiration were:

·       John Major's Autobiography - my personal rating: 8/10

·       John Major: An Unsuccessful Prime Minister? - book by Kevin Hickson. My personal rating: 9/10

·       The Major Years - documentary from the BBC.  My personal rating: 7/10

·       The Presidents & the Prime Ministers with  Iain Dale Podcast- John Major episode - my personal rating: 8/10

·       Prime Ministerial, from the New Statesman Podcast - John Major episode - my personal rating 9/10

I'd really recommend all of these to anybody who enjoys the subject matter!

In this episode, my girlfriend Alice quizzes me on all things John Major! She's coming at this as a relative newbie to British political history and asks some both thought provoking and gossip-based questions! Hopefully, both novices and experts on the topic should find this a great listen! 
 
 I'm also planning to do a 'part 2' to this podcast where I go deeper into the policies of the Major government and their impacts at the time and more lasting impressions on politics today. 
 
 For this episode my main sources of inspiration were:

·       John Major's Autobiography

·       John Major: An Unsuccessful Prime Minister? - book by Kevin Hickson

·       The Major Years - documentary from the BBC

·       The Presidents & the Prime Ministers with  Iain Dale Podcast- John Major episode

·       Prime Ministerial, from the New Statesman Podcast - John Major episode

I'd really recommend all of these to anybody who enjoys the subject matter!