British Government

This work is concerned with what the author calls "the central territory" - that collection of politicians, administrators, groups, offices and units at the centre of the executive branch of British government. The intention of the book is to offer an account of these structures and their operation, not to argue a case - that is, it assumes that political institutions are significant and interesting and further assumes that they cannot easily be pinned down or classified. The author has drawn heavily on the accounts of these people and institutions given by lobbyists, journalists and commentators as well as on the diaries, reports and books of politicians themselves. A particular feature of the book is that it treats Margaret Thatcher's period of office in a retrospective manner, although she was still technically in office at the time of writing. This was done to demonstrate the particular prime ministerial mode that she exemplifies and also to put in context the serious questions her conducting of that office raised with the author concerning the nature of political leadership.