Philip Hensher

What’s really behind the Tories’ present woes?

Geoffrey Wheatcroft identifies two root causes: the disastrous revision of the leadership election procedure, and David Cameron’s turn to the referendum as a device to govern

David Cameron in Blackpool, 2007. His fondness for referendums is seen as a root cause of the Conservatives’ present problems. [Getty Images]
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  • Bloody Panico!: or, Whatever Happened to the Tory Party?

    Geoffrey Wheatcroft

    Verso, pp. 176, £14

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