Politics in Britain is an original and powerful work of synthesis that is essential reading for students of the political scene in the UK today. Controversial when it was first published, the book's analysis of the changing face of British politics has been confirmed by events of the 1980s. This new edition, revised throughout, is brought up to date with substantial new material on the Thatcherite era.

Leys provides a solid body of information on the central topics of British politics - not only on the nature of political parties and the evolution of the state, but also on the organisation of capital and labour, the role of social class in British politics, the transformation of local democracy, law and order, and other areas seldom discussed in more orthodox texts. The book also includes new accounts of Thatcher's programme of de-nationalisation, and of the changes to the Welfare State. Now more relevant than ever. Politics in Britain has yet to be surpassed as an introduction to its subject.