The Long View

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BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Factual: History

History series in which stories from the past shed light on current events

Jonathan Freedland presents the series in which stories from the past are compared with current events.

BBC Radio 4 LW

The Long View: The Long Shadows of Dominant Leaders

The Long Shadows of Dominant Leaders

BBC Radio 4 - The Long View, The Long Shadows of Dominant Leaders

.Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of the vacuum left by once-dominant leaders.

As two of Britain’s ruling political parties adjust, with difficulty, to life under new leadership, Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of the vacuum left by dominant  leaders.

Two of Britain’s ruling political parties find themselves without the strong, charismatic leaders who won them a handsome election victory – and now they’re struggling. At Westminster, it’s the Tories who are emerging, with difficulty, from the shadow of Boris Johnson. At Holyrood, it’s the Scottish National Party getting used to life without Nicola Sturgeon. Both were once riding high – yet this month, both the Conservatives and the SNP lost closely-watched byelection contests to Labour, those Tory defeats coming in Tamworth and mid-Bedfordshire just a few days ago. But the hole left after a once-dominant leader departs the stage is not new – not in Westminster and not in Edinburgh. 

.Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of the void left by once-dominant leaders - to the fall-out from the demise of Sir Robert Peel in the middle of the 19th century and the way Tory politics was upended by the exit of the man who had all but created the modern Conservative Party; and the power vacuum that was left by the sudden death of King James V of Scotland in 1542.

The Guests
Dr Luke Blaxill, political historian at Hertford College, Oxford 
Dr Amy Blakeway,  Senior Lecturer in Scottish History at St Andrews

Readers
Michael Bertenshaw
Kenny Blyth

Assistant Producer: Olivia Sopel
Production Coordinator: Shan Pillay

Producer: Mohini Patel

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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The Long View

The Long Shadows of Dominant Leaders

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