HOW AN ELECTION WAS WON

by Bay Vicker ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Just as the American political structure often defies analysis by observers abroad, so the British system of elections has most Americans baffled. In this intimate description of the revitalization of the Conservative Party after the 1945 Labour sweep, Vicker has managed to shed some light upon the workings of English politics as well as the specific means by which Sir Winston Churchill was returned to power in 1951 in the election referred to in the title. But in addition to explaining how Lord Woolton supervised the re-fashioning of the Conservative image, how he dealt with young people, intellectuals, women, members of the professions, how he organized machinery for effective democratic control of the party at the local level -- Vicker has also exposed the major issues of that campaign. He has a sprinkled his book with the most telling Conservative arguments against Socialism. While his Epilogue admits that since the Tori resumed power, not all has gone according to plan, he has made a deliberate play for the attention of American conservatives, particularly on the issues of socialized medicine and nationalization of industry. The methods by which this election was won will be of continuing academic interest to politicians of all persuasions on both sides of the ocean...but the election itself is presently topical grist for the American conservative mill. Despite a few literary peculiarities (he consistently uses American spellings, even in quotations, and refers rather incongruously to empty coffee -- not tea -- cups strewn around party headquarters), his basic premises are solidly formulated. They will true to whichever Americans are alert for books built around this partisan theme As the London editor of The Wall Street Journal, his background is distinctly a dual one, which may account for the Americanisms in an English setting.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Regnery

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1962

Categories: NONFICTION