Aufsatz(elektronisch)#1Oktober 2022
Choosing the Conservative Leader: a View from History
In: The political quarterly, Band 93, Heft 4, S. 564-575
ISSN: 1467-923X
AbstractThe history of the choice of Conservative Party leaders shows a progression from choice by an elite via choice by MPs to choice by party members. Even so, the parliamentary party retains, by contrast with the Labour Party, a dominant role in choosing the leader. The criterion of who is best placed to unify the party remains of importance, but is supplemented by two other criteria: who is best placed to win the next general election and who is the more genuinely Conservative of the various candidates. The Liz Truss premiership of 2022, however, the year of three Prime Ministers, seemed to cast doubt on the efficacy of Conservative leadership election rules.