This chapter evaluates the consequences of the changes of leadership in the British Conservative Party in the period from 2019 to 2024. The party had experienced a decisive victory in the 2019 general election under the stewardship of Boris Johnson. However, problems initially encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a period of party instability and change. Johnson resigned on account of a scandal labelled Partygate. Liz Truss, his successor, lasted a mere 49 days in office, and her successor in turn, Rishi Sunak, led the party to a disastrous electoral defeat in 2024. Busby addresses the marketing of the party brand during this period and its interaction with evaluations of the individual party leaders. Cumulative problems across the duration of the electoral terms corroded the party identity, and changes of leadership, rather than creating a new sense of direction, drew the party into a position of ever greater electoral difficulty.

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The Conservative Brand: Conflicts of Party and Leadership Identity

  • Robert Busby

摘要

This chapter evaluates the consequences of the changes of leadership in the British Conservative Party in the period from 2019 to 2024. The party had experienced a decisive victory in the 2019 general election under the stewardship of Boris Johnson. However, problems initially encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a period of party instability and change. Johnson resigned on account of a scandal labelled Partygate. Liz Truss, his successor, lasted a mere 49 days in office, and her successor in turn, Rishi Sunak, led the party to a disastrous electoral defeat in 2024. Busby addresses the marketing of the party brand during this period and its interaction with evaluations of the individual party leaders. Cumulative problems across the duration of the electoral terms corroded the party identity, and changes of leadership, rather than creating a new sense of direction, drew the party into a position of ever greater electoral difficulty.