Margaret Thatcher's departure from office and the arrival of her successor, John Major, have had a profound impact on the way Britain is governed - and in this new edition of Consensus Politics, the authors examines the legacy of Thatcherite "conviction politics" and assesses the state of consensus in Britain's government today.

This chronicle of the rise and fall of the post-war consensus in five key policy areas - the mixed economy, full employment, trade unions, welfare and foreign policy - remains a superb introduction to one of the major debates of recent political history.