Evans, Adam  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4150-1517
2026.
The Conservative Party in Wales 1945-1997. Sam Blaxland, 2024 [Book review].
Modern British History
37
(1)
10.1093/tcbh/hwag006
|
Abstract
Sam Blaxland’s study offers a relatively rare insight into a long-standing, but oft-overlooked participant in Welsh political life: the Conservative Party. While the Conservative Party has not topped the poll at a General Election in Wales since those heady days of 1859, it has nonetheless been an ever-present political force in Wales. Indeed, at least in terms of votes cast, it has been the second most popular party in UK General Elections in Wales since 1931. This party, ever present, yet under-studied, is the subject of a careful and considered treatment by Dr Blaxland, who convincingly makes the case that the Conservative Party in Wales matters for scholars of Welsh political history. In pulling together his study of the Conservative Party in Wales between its humiliation at the 1945 General Election and the party’s electoral wipeout in 1997, Blaxland draws upon an impressive and substantial range of sources, ranging from newspapers to interviews and, of course, the archives. The result is the best researched and most compelling study of one of Wales’s most overlooked, yet significant political parties.
| Item Type: | Short Communication |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Published Online |
| Status: | In Press |
| Schools: | Schools > Department of Politics and International Relations (POLIR) Research Institutes & Centres > Wales Governance Centre (WGCES) |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| ISSN: | 2976-7016 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 24 March 2026 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 3 March 2026 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Mar 2026 09:30 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/185985 |
Actions (repository staff only)
 |
Edit Item |
Dimensions
Dimensions