Britain’s quarter century: Blair, populism and the battle over human rights

The Conversation is launching a six-part retrospective on Britain's political transformation since Tony Blair's twenty oh one landslide. Then, power alternated reliably between two parties; today, five or more parties compete for vote share. Populist leaders like Nigel Farage reshaped the landscape. Three major traumas—the twenty oh three Iraq war, a twenty ten expenses scandal, and the twenty oh eight financial crash—corroded public trust progressively. Keir Starmer's Labour government just won on thirty-three percent of the vote, the most disproportionate outcome in British electoral history. Thirty-five expert scholars are examining whether Britain, under a two-party electoral system, can remain governable in a multi-party age.

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