Peasants' Uprising or Religious War? Re-examining the 1975 Conservative Leadership Contest

@article{Cowley2000PeasantsUO,
  title={Peasants' Uprising or Religious War? Re-examining the 1975 Conservative Leadership Contest},
  author={Philip Cowley and Matthew Bailey},
  journal={British Journal of Political Science},
  year={2000},
  volume={30},
  pages={599 - 629}
}
This article analyses the nature of the support given to the candidates in the 1975 Conservative leadership contest, in which Margaret Thatcher replaced Edward Heath. In contrast to the orthodox account of the contest – which interprets it as largely non-ideological – the article argues that there were clear ideological forces at work. The right strongly supported Thatcher in both rounds; the left strongly backed Heath and then Whitelaw. Region, experience and education also influenced the… 
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