Values, Voice and Virtue

Through a series of upheavals, Britain’s liberal establishment has been outflanked and a new alliance of voters has emerged, weakening the traditional divide between left and right. In trying to make sense of this, many commentators have turned to short-term explanations: dark money, the recession, the personalities of party leaders. But, as political scientist Matthew Goodwin reveals in this study, the remarkable turbulence of recent years has been a long time in the making – and it is set to continue for many years to come. Embarking on a profound and ranging analysis of postwar British politics, Goodwin shows how the liberalising projects of the Thatcher and Blair years gave rise to new, cultural divides – over ‘values,’ ‘voice,’ and ‘virtue’ – which have now begun to define political debate and determine elections.