What Went Wrong with Britain? - by Steven Kettell & Peter Kerr & Daniela Tepe

About the Book

This book provides an audit of fourteen years of Conservative government in Britain, from 2010 to 2024. It examines the rise of populism, the politics of Brexit, the UK's response to the pandemic and the steady erosion of public trust.

Book Synopsis

From the Back Cover

'Passionate, provocative and timely.'
Tim Bale, author of The Conservative Party after Brexit

'Provides important and acute assessments of what went wrong under the Conservatives.'
Anand Menon, co-author of Brexit and British Politics

'A uniquely comprehensive guide to the ruins that are collapsing all around us.'
David Whyte, author of Ecocide: Kill the Corporation Before It Kills Us

What went wrong with Britain? presents a comprehensive account of the devastating legacy left by the Conservative government. Shining a light into every dark corner, the book exposes the full extent of the damage inflicted on the country's economy, social fabric and political integrity.

When the Conservatives were voted out of government in July 2024, they left behind a miserable record of rising poverty, inequality and division. This book reveals the forces that have driven the country to the point of crisis, from austerity and economic mismanagement to sheer political dysfunction.
Examining the rise of populism, the politics of Brexit, the UK's response to the pandemic and the steady erosion of public trust, this shocking account of the legacy of Conservative governmentsß from 2010 to 2024 is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand exactly what went wrong with Britain.

Steven Kettell is a Reader in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick

Peter Kerr is an Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Birmingham

Daniela Tepe is a Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Liverpool

£20.00

Review Quotes

'Passionate, provocative and timely - an excoriating across-the-board audit from an impressive line-up of experts and an indispensable resource for anyone who cares about our country and hopes to see it change for the better.'
Tim Bale, author of The Conservative Party after Brexit

'Inspired, as the authors admit, by frustration and despair, this book nevertheless provides important and acute analytical assessments of what went wrong under the Conservatives.'
Anand Menon, co-author of Brexit and British Politics

'A uniquely comprehensive guide to the ruins that are collapsing all around us. The evidence collected in the book is so powerful that, as its conclusion argues, we now have only one course of action: to end the domination of a financial oligarchy whose extreme wealth is founded on the tragedies described so systematically here.'
David Whyte, author of Ecocide: Kill the Corporation Before It Kills Us

'Everything you would expect is here and quite a bit more. Matthew Watson charts the collapse of the Conservative Party - under Johnson of course, but also his successors - into populist crowing about British exceptionalism to mask governmental incompetence, most infamously during the Covid pandemic. James Morrison catalogues the years of denial about the UK's structural and ever-widening levels of inequality, rooted in "moralising neoliberal narratives that individualise responsibility for poverty." Claire Thompson, Dianna Smith and Laura Hamilton highlight Britain's food poverty - among the worst in Europe. The chapter on the NHS is particularly telling.'
Mike Phipps, Labour Hub

About the Author

Steven Kettell is a Reader in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. He is a founder and co-executive editor of the journal British Politics.

Peter Kerr is an Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Birmingham. He is a founder and co-executive editor of the journal British Politics.

Daniela Tepe is a Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Liverpool. Her recent publications include The Fault Lines of Inequality and the Politics of Financialization (2022).