Vernon Bogdanor
Keith Joseph gave the Conservatives something they had not enjoyed for many years - intellectual self-confidence, a conviction that the Left could be defeated on the battleground of ideas. He is crucial to an understanding not only of Thatcherism but also of the rise of New Labour, itself a product of the consensus which Joseph, more than anyone else, helped to create. Joseph had sought to construct a new `common ground', based on the market economy, and, by 1997, Labour, for the first time in its history, no longer called for an extension of nationalisation or state control. Thus Joseph's heirs are not only Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson, but also Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Indeed, the world we live in is one largely created by Keith Joseph, and we will probably continue to live in it for a very long time to come.
Vernon Bogdanor CBE is Professor of Government at Oxford University, and a Visiting Professor of Constitutional History at King’s College, London. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences. He has been an adviser to a number of governments, including those of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Israel and Slovakia. His books include, The People and the Party System: The Referendum and Electoral Reform in British Politics; Multi-Party Politics and the Constitution; Power and the People: A Guide to Constitutional Reform and Devolution in the United Kingdom. His latest book, The New British Constitution, was published in 2009. He is also editor of, amongst other books, The British Constitution in the 20th Century; Joined-Up Government; and, to be published in March, 2010, From the New Jerusalem to New Labour, essays on British Prime Ministers from Attlee to Blair. He is a frequent contributor to TV, radio and the press. In 2008, he was awarded the Sir Isaiah Berlin Award by the Political Studies Association for Lifetime Contribution to Political Studies. In 2009 he was made a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by President Sarkozy. He is an Honorary Fellow of The Queen’s College, Oxford and an Honorary D. Litt. of the University of Kent.
