Who Governs Britain?: Trade Unions, the Conservative Party and the Failure of the Industrial Relations ACT 1971 Warner Sam

Providing fresh insights from the archival record, Who governs Britain? Designed to tackle Britain's strike problem and perceived disorder in collective bargaining, the Industrial Relations Act 1971 established a formal legal framework to counteract trade union power. revisits the 1970-74 Conservative government to explain why the Party tried - and failed - to reform the system of industrial relations.

In just three-and-a-half years, the Act contributed to a crisis of the British state as industrial unrest engulfed industry and risked undermining the rule of law. As the state attempted to disengage from and 'depoliticise' collective bargaining practices, trade union leaders and employers were instructed to discipline industry. Warner explores the power dynamics, strategic errors and industrial battles that destroyed this attempt to tame trade unions and ultimately brought down a