Background and Context

The Conservative Coalition, 2010-15

In this course, Dr Matt Beech (University of Hull) explores the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of 2010-15. The first module, we think about the key background to the formation of the coalition in 2010 – how and why did the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats come to form the first formal coalition in the post-war period?. After that, in the second module, we think about the extent to which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had a shared political ideology, before turning in the third module to consider their respective positions on the economy. In the fourth module, we think about why Europe became such a big issue in the course of the Parliament, leading to Cameron promising an in-out referendum on Europe in January 2013, before turning in the fifth module to consider the legacy of the 2010-15 coalition – in terms of the subsequent electoral fortunes for the constituent parties, and in terms of the character of UK politics more broadly.

Background and Context

In this module, we think about the key context for the 2010 General Election, focusing in particular on: (i) ‘bigotgate’ – Gordon Brown’s run-in with a Labour voter while on the campaign trail in Rochdale, and what it revealed about Labour’s (lack of) understanding of their voters’ core concerns; (ii) the televised leadership debates (an innovation for 2010), of which the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was seen as the clear winner; (iii) the result of the 2010 General Election, the negotiations that followed, and the agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to form a formal coalition government; and (iv) the key political issue in 2010 – the continued impact of the global financial crisis and, in particular, getting the budget deficit under control.