Endorsements

Having stridently opposed devolution for many years, how did the Conservative Party react when the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly came into being? Why did the Welsh Conservatives initially adapt better to devolution than the Scottish Conservatives? How far does the territorial Conservative Party differ from the Party at the UK level? This book addresses the above questions through the first detailed examination of the Conservative Party beyond the centre after devolution. The Scottish and Welsh sections of the Party both started out in 1999 with no MPs and a difficult inheritance. The smaller and less autonomous Welsh Conservatives appeared to stage a recovery, while their Scottish counterparts continued to struggle until the 2014 independence referendum. Tracing the transformation in both parties, the book explains why the Welsh Conservatives unexpectedly embraced devolution while the Scottish Conservatives took much longer to accept that Westminster was no longer the priority. In considering the drivers of party change at the sub-state level, we find that electoral defeat and organisational autonomy were not as significant as might be expected. Although the Welsh Conservatives had less power and money, they also entered the Assembly with less baggage than their Scottish counterparts. Renewing unionism was more difficult in Scotland because the Scottish Conservatives could see no clear route to holding power. This book will appeal to students of British, Scottish and Welsh politics and anyone who is interested in the Conservative Party. It also speaks to wider debates about the nature of devolution, party change and multi-level governance.