ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a link between the local and national scales. It discusses the historic connections between Conservatism and rural representation before arguing that a weakening of this relationship in the 1980s and 1990s. The book concentrates on agricultural politics, including the responses to the BSE and Foot and Mouth epidemics and the rise of farmer militancy. It looks at conflicts over development in rural areas, particularly house-building, but also, briefly, road-building and the construction of windfarms. The book explores a major issue in contemporary rural politics. It examines the reconfiguration of local politics in rural areas. It proceeds to trace the 'scaling-up' of rural conflicts from the local to the national political arena.
