"The Shotgun Marriage: Managing Eurosceptical Opinion in British Political Parties 1972-2002"

Baker, David (2003) "The Shotgun Marriage: Managing Eurosceptical Opinion in British Political Parties 1972-2002". In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 2003 (8th), March 27-29, 2003, pages 19, Nashville, Tennessee.

Abstract

In party management terms European Union represents a clear case of an uncomfortable political ‘shotgun marriage’, in the sense that UK party leaders and their managers have to deal with an evolving, highly controversial, and largely externally driven policy agenda, whilst operating an internal system of party discipline predicated on a set of largely predictable and negotiable (or at least enforceable) domestic agendas. This paper deals with the problems this has caused for party management and party cohesion in British party politics between 1972 and 2002.