The Language of Political Leadership in Contemporary Britain

Analyses of leadership speeches by David Owen, David Steel, Neil Kinnock and Margaret Thatcher. The author examines how the leader's conference speech reveals both the constraints upon and the possibilities for the national presentation of personalized political leadership in Britain. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-20 David Owen and Social Democracy....Pages 21-58 David Steel and Liberalism....Pages 59-99 Neil Kinnock and Democratic Socialism....Pages 100-147 Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Tradition....Pages 148-185 Conclusion....Pages 186-195 Back Matter....Pages 197-257 'This is not an easy book to read. But it is worth the effort...The major preoccupation of this book is to see how ritual and discourse affect leadership and enable a party to adapt itself to changing circumstances. We all know about sleight of hand in politics.