From Cool Britannia to Brexit

Pauline Schnapper is Professor of British Politics at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris. Her research covers in particular British European policy and post-Brexit politics. Her most recent publications include La Politique au Royaume-Uni (La Découverte, 2022) and, with Helen Drake, '"We thought we were friends!": Franco-British bilateral diplomacy and the shock of Brexit' (Journal of Contemporary European Research, 2021).Thibaud Harrois is Senior Lecturer in British Politics at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris. His research focuses on British foreign and security policy. His latest publications include ‘The politicisation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy in the British domestic debate on Brexit: A challenge to EU–UK foreign and security cooperation’ (Contemporary British History, 2023).

• IntroductionChapter 1: The constitutionIntroductionPolitical parties and constitutional reformsReforming Britain’s constitutionThe Brexit referendum: a challenge to parliamentary democracyThe Covid-19 crisis and the constitutionConstitutional Monarchy at the end of the second Elizabethan eraConclusionChapter 2: Parties, elections and votersIntroductionThe new party system(s)The crisis of representation – how voting changedChanges in parties – policies and organisationNew forms of participationConclusionChapter 3: The state of the unionIntroductionDevolution to Scotland and WalesNorthern IrelandThe 2014 Scottish independence referendumThe Brexit effectConsequences of the Covid pandemicThe state of EnglandConclusionChapter 4: Britain and Europe: the road to BrexitIntroductionThe ambiguities of New LabourThe rise of EuroscepticismThe Brexit referendumUK–EU relations after BrexitConclusionChapter 5: Britain in the worldIntroductionNew Labour, old values ?The UK, NATO and the defence of Europe in the post-Cold War contextThe Franco-British Saint-Malo Declaration: introducing new concepts in European defenceLiberal interventionism and the ‘special relationship’ with the USAThe legacy of ‘Blair’s wars’ and ‘liberal conservatism’The ‘Arab Spring’ and its aftermathNo ’strategic shrinkage’: reviewing the UK’s defence and security prioritiesThe United Kingdom and the EU’s foreign and security policy‘Global Britain’: a redefinition of Britain’s role in the world?ConclusionChapter 6: The economyIntroductionThe New Labour era (1997–2010)Gordon Brown’s premiership and the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis (2007–2010)The Conservative-led coalition government (2010–2015) and the Conservative government before the 2016 referendumWhat political response to economic challenges after 2016?ConclusionChapter 7: A more diverse and unequal societyIntroductionDemographic trendsImmigration and multiculturalismClass and social inequalitiesInequalities, poverty and unemploymentThe housing crisisConclusionChapter 8: EducationIntroductionNew Labour’s education agenda (1997–2010)Education policy and reforms under the Coalition Government (2010–2015)New challenges: education policy in the aftermath of Brexit and Covid-19ConclusionChapter 9: Old and new mediaIntroductionThe evolution of traditional media: the press, television and the radioScandals and ethicsConclusionChapter 10: Cultural policyIntroductionThe New Labour vision – Cool Britannia?The impact of austerity on the cultural sectorTwo shocks: Brexit and CovidThe legacy of empire and culture warsConclusion