In the run-up to the general election of May 2010 it was universally acknowledged that whatever the outcome, this vote would start a fresh chapter in British political history. But no one anticipated just how fresh that chapter would be – Twists and turns made it an election like no other. David Cameron launched the Tories’ poster campaign with an unblemished photograph of himself – and it became the most parodied image of the election. Nick Clegg went into the fi rst of the leaders’ television debates derided as ‘The Other One’ – and emerged as a major player, with ‘I agree with Nick’ the campaign’s unlikely catchphrase. Mrs Gillian Duffy went out to buy a loaf of bread in Rochdale – and happened to encounter Gordon Brown, with disastrous consequences for the Labour cause. But none of the soap opera of the weeks leading up to 6 May could match the drama of the days following the election’s inconclusive result: the positioning, the posturing, the negotiating and the bargaining which eventually saw David Cameron moving into 10 Downing Street in a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. A fresh chapter in political history – and a fresh level of political theatre incisively described by Nicholas Jones.
About the author
Nicholas Jones retired as BBC political correspondent in 2002. His many books include Sound Bites and Spin Doctors, Sultans of Spin, and The Control Freaks.
More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
114,747 Ebooks in this category
