The Conservative-Liberal Coalition

"The Centre for British Politics at Hull has become one of the leading centres for the study of British politics. This important collection of essays provides a comprehensive and insightful account of the policies and performance of the Coalition Government since 2010. It will be essential reading for all students of British politics." Professor Andrew Gamble, University of Cambridge, UK

"Electoral trends in the UK may render coalitions the norm rather than the exception, making Matt Beech's and Simon Lee's The Conservative-Liberal Coalition a particularly timely and informative contribution. Beech and Lee have gathered an impressive lineup of British politics scholars in this first comprehensive review of the politics and policy of the Coalition. Beech's insight of a coalition 'more liberal than conservative' in its ideology is counterintuitively intriguing and illuminates how austerity and the reforms of the British welfare state might prove this Coalition to be more transformational than reformist in the end. The Conservative-Liberal Coalition is the indisputable starting point for serious analysis of the legacy of the coalition and will serve to shape the debate to follow." Terrence Casey, Professor of Political Science and Head, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, USA

"This highly readable series of essays provides astute analysis of the challenges facing the Coalition collectively, the two parties and their respective leaders. A must-read for those who want to understand the record of the Coalition, a judicious mix of politics and public policy is discussed in an informed and balanced way which nonetheless does not pull its punches about the Coalition's successes and failures." Julie Smith, University of Cambridge and House of Lords, UK

"Matt Beech and Simon Lee have once again produced an authoritative account of contemporary British politics building on the success of their previous joint-edited volumes produced under the auspices of the Centre for British Politics at the University of Hull. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the recent course of British politics between 2010 and 2015. It should be placed on all undergraduate reading lists for modules on British politics." Kevin Hickson, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Liverpool, UK