Politics UK

This revised and updated tenth edition of the bestselling textbook Politics UK is an indispensable introduction to British politics. It provides a thorough and accessible overview of the institutions and processes of British government, an excellent grounding in British political history and an incisive introduction to the issues and challenges facing Britain today.

This edition welcomes three brand new chapters - ‘Elites in the United Kingdom’, 'Gender and British politics' and 'UK Immigration policy in hostile environment' - alongside rigorously updated revised chapters. It delivers excellent coverage of contemporary events, with significant new material covering: the Johnson premiership and the national challenge of Covid-19, the end of the May premiership and the implementation of Brexit, the Labour Party’s transition from Corbyn to Starmer, infrastructure and innovation, 'fake news', populism and nationalism, the UK’s place in a post-Brexit world, climate change, social mobility and elite recruitment, devolution and regionalism, constitutional strain, the role of political advisers, abuse and incivility in politics and much more.

Other features of the new edition include:

• A wide range of illustrative material, boxes and case studies providing illuminating examples alongside the analysis.
• A comprehensive ‘who’s who’ of politics in the form of Profile boxes featuring key political figures.
• And another thing . . . pieces containing short articles on salient and pressing topics, written by distinguished commentators including Sir John Curtice, Sir Simon Jenkins, Andrew Rawnsley, Baroness Julie Smith of Newnham, and Philip Collins.
• Online interviews on the book’s website see notable figures from British political life discussing the pressing issues of today.

With chapters written by highly respected scholars in the field and contemporary articles on real-world politics from well-known political commentators, this textbook is an essential guide for all students of British politics.

Bill Jones joined the Extra-Mural Department at Manchester University in 1972 as the person in charge of politics and government, serving as Director 1987–92. He was Vice Chair and Chair of The Politics Association 1979–85, being made a Life Fellow in 2001. In 2006 he took up a teaching post at Liverpool Hope University being made a professor in 2009. Bill has maintained a fair publishing output and also occasionally broadcasts on radio and television. He now lives in retirement in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, continuing with writing of various kinds, including non fiction and fiction, giving guest lectures and teaching adult classes on politics, mostly for the pioneering charity organisation, the University of the Third Age.

Philip Norton (Lord Norton of Louth) is Professor of Government at the University of Hull. When he was appointed in 1986, he was the youngest professor of politics in the country. He was also appointed Director of the University’s Centre for Legislative Studies in 1992. He is the editor of The Journal of Legislative Studies and chair of the Higher Education Commission. He is the author or editor of 32 books. He was elevated to the peerage in 1998. He chaired the Commission to Strengthen Commission, which reported in 2000, and was the first Chairman of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. He has been described by the House Magazine – the journal of the two Houses of Parliament – as ‘our greatest living expert on Parliament’.

Isabelle Hertner is a Senior Lecturer in the Politics of Britain in Europe at King’s College London. She researches political parties in Britain, Germany, France, and at the European Union level. Her research focuses on party organisations (and in particular, intra-party democracy and the role of members), policies (on the EU and immigration), and discourses (on gender). Isabelle is also the director of the Centre for German Transnational Relations at King’s College London, which analyses Germany in the European and global context across different disciplines. She teaches British politics, comparative European politics, and European gender politics.