David Cameron and Conservative Renewal : The Limits of Modernisation?

This volume explores the process of modernising the Conservative Party under David Cameron’s leadership from 2005 to 2016. It argues that Cameron's strategy was wide-ranging and multi-faceted, and that it evolved from a coherent programme of explicit modernisation into a more strategic attempt to control the Party’s image, partly as a result of changed thinking within the Party and partly because of the pressure of external events, foremost among them the move into government following the general election of 2010.

The book traces the different elements of the renewal strategy - ideological reconstruction, policy reappraisal and enhanced electoral appeal - identifying the constraints on renewal from different sections of the Party, including the parliamentary party and the grass roots membership. It also explores the extent to which long-standing intra-party divisions caused difficulties for the exercise of leadership. Ultimately, it shows that the process of renewal has been through a number of stages, that its progress has been indirect rather than linear and that, while the project has been successful in some respects, the extent to which it has created a new Conservative Party remains highly contested.