The Death of Consensus: 100 Years of British Political Nightmares w/ Phil Tinline

Join The Death of Consensus author and BBC Radio producer Phil Tinline for an insightful talk exploring the highs and lows of British politics over the past century. Travel back in time to two past eras when the ruling consensus broke down, and the future filled with ominous possibilities – until, finally, a new settlement was born.

Over Britain’s first century of mass democracy, politics has lurched from crisis to crisis. How does this history of political agony illuminate our current age of upheaval?

To find out, journalist Phil Tinline takes us back to two past eras when the ruling consensus broke down, and the future filled with ominous possibilities – until, finally, a new settlement was born. How did the Great Depression’s spectres of fascism, bombing and mass unemployment force politicians to think the unthinkable, and pave the way to post-war Britain? How was Thatcher’s road to victory made possible by a decade of nightmares: of hyperinflation, military coups and communist dictatorship? And why, since the Crash in 2008, have new political threats and divisions forced us to change course once again?

Tinline brings to life those times, past and present, when the great compromise holding democracy together has come apart; when the political class has been forced to make a choice of nightmares. This lively, original account of panic and chaos reveals how apparent catastrophes can clear the path to a new era. The Death of Consensus will make you see British democracy differently.

About the author

Phil Tinline works for BBC Radio, making and presenting acclaimed documentaries about how political history shapes our lives. Formerly executive producer of Radio 4’s award-winning investigative history series, Document, he has written for The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, BBC History Magazine, Prospect, UnHerd and The New Statesman.