This book investigates the policies of the Thatcher, Major and Blair governments and their approaches towards concentration of economic and political power. The 1979–2007 British governments have variously been described as liberal or, to use a political insult and a favourite academic label, neoliberal. One of the stated objectives of the Thatcher, Major and Blair governments—albeit with differing focal points—was to disperse power and to empower the individual. This was also a consistent theme of the first generation of neoliberals, who saw monopolies, vested interests and concentration more generally as the ‘great enemy of democracy’. Under Thatcher and Major, Conservatives sought to liberalize the economy and spread ownership through policies like Right to Buy and privatisation. New Labour dispersed political power with its devolution agenda, granted operational independence to the Bank of England and put in place a seemingly robust antitrust framework. All governments during the 1979–2007 period pursued choice in public services. Yet our modern discourse characterises Britain as beset by endemic power concentration, in markets and politics. What went wrong? How did so-called neoliberal governments, which invoked liberty and empowerment, fail to disperse power and allow concentration to continue, recur or arise? The book will be of interest to students and scholars of contemporary British history, political economy and politics, as well as specific areas of study such as Thatcherism and New Labour.

"The End of Decline" explores the historical significance of New Labour and puts forward an argument, which is simple and positive and therefore deeply unfashionable. It is that the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are responsible for the ending of decline in Britain. They owe Thatcher a great debt, but it is they, rather than Thatcher, who have made Britain the first among equals in Europe. They have helped to create a renaissance in British art and culture, and also in sport, culminating in the awarding of the 2012 Olympic Games to London. In short, Britain has cured itself of the so-called 'British disease' and has become much more comfortable, imaginative and successful: it is now a country which is envied rather than pitied; in growth, no longer in decline. Despite many problems in the welfare state, the polarisation on the Iraq War and suicide bomb attacks, Britain is now confident in three vital areas: political economy, culture and our role in the world. We have confidence in our institutions, celebrate our culture and hold our head high.

In The Thatcherite Offensive, Alexander Gallas provides a class-centred political analysis of Thatcherism. Drawing upon Greek state theorist Nicos Poulantzas, he challenges both mainstream and critical accounts of British politics in the 1980s and 90s. He shows that Thatcherism’s sucess and novelty, indeed its unity as a political project, lay in the fact that the Thatcher governments profoundly shifted class relations in Britain in favour of capital and restructured the institutions underpinning class domination. According to Gallas, it was an integral part of the Thatcherite project to directly intervene in labour relations, to deprive workers of their ability to forge coalitions, and to smash militant trade unionism.

During the period from 1945 to 2005, Britain underwent two deep-seated institutional transformations when political elites successfully challenged the prevailing wisdom on how to govern the economy. Attlee and Thatcher were able to effectively implement most of their political platforms. During this period there were also two opportunities to challenge existing institutional arrangements. Heath's 'U-turn' in 1972 signalled his failure to implement the radical agenda promised upon election in 1970, whilst Tony Blair’s New Labour similarly failed to instigate a major break with the 'Thatcherite' settlement. Rather than simply retell the story of British economic policymaking since World War II, this book offers a theoretically informed version of events, which draws upon the literatures on institutional path dependence, economic constructivism and political economy to explain this puzzle. It will be of great interest to both researchers and postgraduates with an interest in British economic history and the fields of political economy and economic crisis more widely.

The Conservatives are back - but what took them so long? Why did the world's most successful political party dump Margaret Thatcher only to commit electoral suicide under John Major? Just as importantly, what stopped the Tories getting their act together until David Cameron came along? The answers are as intriguing as the questions.

The political legacy of the Thatcher government endures today. Many contend that New Labour would not exist had it not been for Margaret Thatcher. This book gives an insight into the style of the Thatcher administration and draws fascinating conclusions.

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,0, University of Potsdam, language: English, abstract: In course of its long democratic history, the United Kingdom has gone through many governments whose influential Prime ministers had formed the British society. But probably no other British Prime minister (PM) has ever left his marks so much as Margaret Thatcher, who held longer office than every other PM before. However, the assumption that her almost twelve years lasting term of office could be taken as an indicator for her great popularity as great politician is not applicable at all. Indeed, the “Iron Lady” and her revolutionary economy and welfare policy, known as Thatcherism, polarised and still divide the minds of the British society. Whereas her supporters are prizing her policy as the basis of Britain’s power and wealth for millions, her critics blame her to be responsible for the ruin of the social sector and the destruction of a social community sense. This seminar paper is concerned with the controversial policy of Margaret Thatcher. For my work, I argue that “The policy of Thatcher has cemented the British class system rather than loosen it”. As a theoretical background I will examine the British class system and define the term “class” itself. The main part is structured into three linked chapters dealing with the main features of Thatcher’s era in order to reveal how Thatcher’s policy affected the major classes in the UK: Working -, Middle - and Upper Class. Thereby, it will be illustrated and concluded in the final part of this work if Thatcher can be seen rather as an icon or rather as a hate figure for the UK and its classes. The entire work is embedded in a short portray of the social life in the UK before and after Thatcher’s legislative period in order to compare the development objectively.