John Major, Tony Blair and a Conflict of Leadership Collision Course

In Britain's parliamentary democracy there have always been competing claims between party leaders for the position of prime minister - today these claims are less the incidental features of political party exchanges and more an indication of a new dimension of political activity with its own dynamics and significance. Focusing on the leadership profiles of Tony Blair and John Major, this text details the importance of the mass media in leadership projection, the usage of opinion polling and market research to promote leaders and the deployment of leaders by their respective parties into public settings for self-promotion. It examines the evolution of leadership in the Labour Party, from Harold Wilson to Tony Blair, and looks at the New Labour project from a leadership perspective. The book also follows the general election campaigns of New Labour and the Conservatives and analyses the 1995 Conservative party leadership contest.