Back from the Brink: The Inside Story of the Tory Resurrection

by Peter Snowdon

Lifting the lid on the most captivating story in British politics today, 'Back from the Brink' explores the Conservative Party's journey from the political wilderness back into the realm of political competitiveness.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Peter Snowdon is a contemporary historian and journalist.

Educated at St. Dunstan's College, Durham University and the London School of Economics, he has collaborated with Anthony Seldon on a number of books, including the authorised biography of John Major, Major: A Political Life (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997), Blair (Simon & Schuster, 2004) and Blair Unbound (Simon & Schuster, 2007).[1]

He has written articles on the Conservative Party in several academic journals, including The Political Quarterly and Parliamentary Affairs. He has also contributed to Parliamentary Monitor, Parliamentary Brief and Newsweek. He is an occasional columnist for the Yorkshire Post and has appeared as a commentator on television and radio in the UK and abroad. He currently works for BBC political programmes, having previously worked at London Weekend Television.

Reviews

[Aurélien Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Britain, May 2010. After more than 13 years in opposition, The Tories, led by David Cameron, are back in charge under a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.

Of course, Peter Snowdon, political journalist, retells in here such epic elections, both surprising and historical -the last coalition dated back more than 60 years prior, and the Liberals had been completely wiped out of the scene more than 90 years before (the fall of Lloyd Georges). He, most importantly, narrates how the Conservative party came back into the frontline after a near-death experience.

The thing is, if the looong era under New Labour seemed to have been a period of political decline for the Tories, it was in fact an occasion for deep ideological reorientation, which turned out to be crucial in the long run. Indeed, beyond the heritage of Thatcher, it's also the impact of Blairism which is acknowledged as having led to more than necessary internal reforms. 13 years in opposition were, above all, 13 years, trying to regain the faith and trust of voters that Thatcherism had traumatised, and it wasn't easy! Peter Snowdon shows here how, battles after battles and storms after storms, they tried to put themselves back on track -e.g. from the quarrels about the war in Irak to their support of free market ideology right in the middle of a serious financial crisis, and, even, having to face the scandal of public expenses... What an odyssey!

Here's a good read, giving us to see the high and lows of a political journey. It's enthralling, relevant, and highly instructive.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found it really interesting to start, got half way through and started to struggle. Overall good but not necessarily a quick easy read.

[Michael Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting volume on the revival of the tory party with plenty of opinions from those on the inside at the time

[David Cheshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This entertaining and excellent history reminds us how close the Tories came to extinction after Blair's 1997 victory ("we'll be stuffed" said Cameron when he heard of John Smith's death and rightly predicted a Blair take-over). It took the Tories ages to accept that they had to change, that being May's "nasty party", whose main feature was their dislike of contemporary Britain, just guaranteed permanent electoral failure. The myth that the betrayal and overthrow of Thatcher was somehow due to Europhilia took a strong and enduring hold on many (not necessarily the brightest, but maybe the noisiest) Tories. Not until the penny dropped did the "heir to Blair" and Blair admirers Gove and Osborne get their modernisation agenda accepted. Cameron was not the first to get this, but when he did, "he got it big." The most interesting comment is that as Thatcher converted New Labour to accepting the market, so Blair converted the Cameron Tories to accepting a liberal social agenda. Steve Hilton played a role here. However Cameron's big problem is also revealed: that unlike Blair he never had a "Clause 4 moment". By electing to appease his party he left himself both a political a time-bomb and the accusation that "progressive ends by Conservative means" is no more than warmed-up New Labour. What actually is "modern compassionate Conservatism" for? "David is the change" - is there anything more? Who exactly is Cameron? Do we know yet? If the wheels do fall off, Eurosceptic neo-Thatcherism is waiting in the wings. The overriding message here is perhaps that just as Blair's hegemony (only matched by Palmerston's) utterly eclipsed the Tories, so the slow unravelling of New Labour (due to Iraq and Blair/Brown)rescued their prospects. Not quite enough for a triumphal Tory return, as it turned out (this book ends in 2008). But still, enough; the Coalition is another chapter. This is an excellent piece of "instant" contemporary history, with lots of insider quotes and good insights. Overall a valuable reminder of how the study of failure can make an extraordinarily revealing contribution to our understanding of political history.

[James Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will start off with: I am not a tory, don't think I ever will be.
The main problem with this book is the subject matter, the big characters of The Conservative party had been swept away during the 1997 New Labour landslide, so whilst the book is very readable and moves at a cracking pace, unfortunately it's just not as interesting as whats happening across the aisle. I think New Labour had acquired the big players at this point. But, it's interesting to look at how a party can tear its-self to bits with infighting after a catastrophic defeat. I can not help but admire the David Cameron depicted in this book, he was one of a few to understand that the Tory party needed to change or it would struggle to win an election again. If I could give 3 1/2 stars I would. I love books about Politics that you can actually read without an asprin after an hour, I love a political book that explores the person as well as the politician, and this book does this well.

[Keith Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read especially in context of the Labour Party Leadership, shows how many leaders it took before the Tories got back to nearly winning a majority in 2010. The bad news is that if there is a direct comparison Labour has just elected our equivalent of Ian Duncan Smith (popular with members but not the wider public and that we should have skipped a generation) Liz Kendall anyone? Another good reminder however that if a week is a long time in politics just imagine how long four years is.