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The British General Election of 2017 is the definitive and authoritative account of one of the most dramatic elections in British history. Throwing aside her natural caution, Theresa May called a snap election and was widely expected to crush Jeremy Corbyn´s Labour Party. Her gamble backfired spectacularly as the Conservatives lost their Commons majority to a resurgent Labour led by one of the most unconventional politicians to lead a major British political party. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, with unparalleled access to all the key players, The British General Election of 2017 offers a revelatory guide to what really happened. The 20th edition in this prestigious series of books dating back to 1945, it is designed to appeal to everyone - from Westminster insiders and politics students to the wider general public.

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List of Tables

List of Figures

List of Illustrations

List of Plates

Preface

1 Not going entirely to plan

2 Brexit

Jack Glynn and Anand Menon

3 From Stockbroker´s Son to Vicar´s Daughter. The Conservatives

4 From Miliband to Corbyn. Labour

5 Liberal Democrats and others

6 Still Different, Only Slightly Less So: Scotland

Gerry Hassan

7 Towards a Landslide

8 Everything Changes

With Wes Ball

9 Horrors and Hopes

10 Election night and its aftermath

11 Wrong Footed Again: The Polls

12 Targeted (and untargeted) campaigning

13 Campaign coverage and editorial judgements: Broadcasting

Stephen Cushion and Charlie Beckett

14 A Bad Press: Newspapers

David Deacon and Dominic Wring

15 Political recruitment under pressure: MPs and Candidates

Rosie Campbell and Jennifer Hudson

16 The election in retrospect

Appendix 1: The Results Analysed

John Curtice, Stephen Fisher, Robert Ford and Patrick English

Appendix 2: The Voting Statistics

Appendix 3: Select Political Chronology 2015-17

Index

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"The volume achieves the same skillful blend of narrative and analysis that we have come to expect from the series, with the help of excellent sourcing and well-chosen specialist contributors ... ." (Lawrence McKay, LSE Review of Books, blogs.lse.ac.uk, January 08, 2019)

"For the political anoraks a must is Philip Cowley and Dennis Kavanagh The British General Election of 2017 ... . A good bluffer´s guide on lessons to be learnt in today´s period of instability." (Iain Dale, iaindale.com, December 5, 2018)

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Philip Cowley is Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London, UK. He has been involved in the Palgrave Macmillan election series since 2010.

Dennis Kavanagh is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Liverpool, UK. He has been involved in every one of the Palgrave Macmillan election studies since February 1974.

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