The Coalition Effect, 2010–2015

The British general election of May 2010 delivered the first coalition government since the Second World War. David Cameron and Nick Clegg pledged a 'new politics' with the government taking office in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. Five years on, a team of leading experts drawn from academia, the media, Parliament, Whitehall and think tanks assesses this 'coalition effect' across a broad range of policy areas. Adopting the contemporary history approach, this pioneering book addresses academic and policy debates across this whole range of issues. Did the coalition represent the natural 'next step' in party dealignment and the evolution of multi-party politics? Was coalition in practice a historic innovation in itself, or did the essential principles of Britain's uncodified constitution remain untroubled? Fundamentally, was the coalition able to deliver on its promises made in the coalition agreement, and what were the consequences - for the country and the parties - of this union?

David Cameron as Prime Minister, 2010–15: the verdict of history Anthony Seldon; Part I. The Coalition and the Government of Britain: 1. The coming of the coalition and the Coalition Agreement Mike Finn; 2. The coalition and the constitution Martin Loughlin and Cal Viney; 3. The coalition beyond Westminster Neil McGarvey; 4. The coalition and the executive Peter Riddell; 5. The coalition and Parliament Philip Cowley; Part II. The Coalition and Policy: 6. The coalition and the economy Paul Johnson and Daniel Chandler; 7. The coalition and energy policy Dieter Helm; 8. The coalition and infrastructure Julian Glover; 9. The coalition and society (I): home affairs and local government Tony Travers; 10. The coalition and society (II): education Alan Smithers; 11. The coalition and society (III): health and long-term care Howard Glennerster; 12. The coalition and society (IV): welfare Nicholas Timmins; 13. The coalition and foreign affairs Michael Clarke; 14. Europe: the coalition's poisoned chalice Julie Smith; 15. 'What the coalition did for women': a new gender consensus, coalition division and gendered austerity Rosie Campbell and Sarah Childs; 16. The coalition and culture: 'bread, circuses and Britishness' Rory Coonan; Part III. The Coalition and Political Culture: 17. The coalition and the Conservatives Philip Norton; 18. The coalition and the Liberal Democrats Mike Finn; 19. The coalition and the Labour Party Guy Lodge and Illias Thoms; 20. The coalition and the media Peter Preston; 21. The coalition, elections and referendums John Curtice; Part IV. Conclusion: 22. Conclusion: the net coalition effect Mike Finn.

Anthony Seldon is a leading contemporary historian and political commentator, and the thirteenth Master of Wellington College. A Fellow of King's College London, he has authored or edited over thirty-five books on contemporary history and politics. With Peter Hennessy, he co-founded the Institute of Contemporary British History, now part of King's College London. This is the eighth 'Effect' book he has edited.
Mike Finn is Director of the Centre for Education Policy Analysis and Lecturer in the History of Education at Liverpool Hope University. He has taught history and politics at a number of institutions, including as a Research Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and as a Bye-Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 2006 he was Head of Research and political speechwriter to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats during the transition from Charles Kennedy to Ming Campbell. In 2001 he won the Palgrave/Times Higher Education Humanities and Social Sciences writing prize. A former Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University, he is the editor of The Gove Legacy: Education in Britain after the Coalition (2015).