ABSTRACT

A History of British Elections since 1689 represents a unique single-volume authoritative reference guide to British elections and electoral systems from the Glorious Revolution to the present day.

The main focus is on general elections and associated by-elections, but Chris Cook and John Stevenson also cover national referenda, European parliament elections, municipal elections, and elections to the Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies and the Scottish parliament. The outcome and political significance of all these elections are looked at in detail, but the authors also discuss broader themes and debates in British electoral history, for example: the evolution of the electoral system, parliamentary reform, women's suffrage, constituency size and numbers, elimination of corrupt practices, and other important topics. The book also follows the fortunes not only of the major political parties but of fringe movements of the extreme right and left.

Combining data, summary and analysis with thematic overviews and chronological outlines, this major new reference provides a definitive guide to the long and varied history of British elections and is essential reading for students of British political history.

chapter |3 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|11 pages

Chronology of British electoral history

part I|100 pages

British general elections

chapter 2|5 pages

The earliest elections (to 1689)

chapter 3|13 pages

The age of oligarchy 1689–1832

chapter 4|10 pages

The age of reform 1832–68

part II|108 pages

Modern British general elections since 1918

chapter 6|39 pages

Inter-war elections 1918–35

chapter 7|35 pages

Elections in the two-party era 1945–74

chapter 8|32 pages

Contemporary elections 1979–2010

part III|58 pages

The mechanics of elections

chapter 9|32 pages

The electoral system

chapter 10|24 pages

Electoral reform

part IV|114 pages

Other British voting

chapter 11|45 pages

By-elections

The barometer of public opinion

chapter 12|19 pages

Local elections

The municipal microcosm

chapter 13|17 pages

European elections

chapter 14|16 pages

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

chapter 15|15 pages

Referenda

part V|41 pages

Reference glossaries

chapter 16|24 pages

The language of elections

A glossary of key terms

chapter 17|15 pages

Glossary of political parties