Conservatism and Unionism in the UK, 1968-1997

This project is a new collaboration between Paul Corthorn, the PI, who has an established research record in twentieth-century British Conservatism and Ulster Unionism, and Malcolm Petrie, the CI, an expert in twentieth-century Scottish politics and the development of Scottish Unionism after the Second World War. With the support of a Postdoctoral Research Assistant (PDRA), we will undertake comprehensive archival research in order to examine the evolving relationship between Conservatism and Unionism across the UK in the last three decades of the twentieth century. This was a critical juncture when a previously close relationship, forged amid the politics of the Irish Question in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, unravelled - with far-reaching implications for the survival of the Union today, which are the subject of political science and wider public debate.

Aiming to produce a trade book for Oxford University Press so as to reach a wide academic and popular audience, the project team (the PI, CI and PDRA) will grapple with questions about the constitutional form that the Union should take, especially arguments over devolution, and the underpinnings of it, sometimes dubbed Britishness. We will draw on a rich archival base, including a significant number of hitherto un-used sources. Concentrating on political ideas, but placing them firmly in the context of party politics, we will investigate the impact of disputes over membership of the European Community/European Union and the advance of neoliberalism. We are particularly concerned to analyse the often overlooked effect of the end of the Cold War - not least because the relationship between Conservatism and Unionism in the mid-twentieth century was based, to a considerable extent, on a shared anti-socialist perspective.

We have a clear strategy in place, with important project partnerships and building on existing relationships, to enable the public impact of our work. This includes: a live BBC radio show on the future of the Union that will become a podcast; newspaper articles; a recorded public talk; a History & Policy event, featuring a 'Witness Seminar' and producing a policy paper on the changing arguments in favour of the Union over the last fifty years; and an on-line resource for GCSE History teachers and pupils on Ulster Unionism in UK perspective.

An International Advisory Board, comprising historians and political scientists at all career stages, will oversee the project and participate in two workshops and a conference, held at the sites of key archives in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The board's expertise, and varying perspectives, will therefore feed into discussions at important stages, helping to shape the research and outputs. Under the direction of the PDRA, the board's participation will also lead to a special issue of a major journal such as Contemporary British History that will focus on the 1990s.