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Making the Weather

Sir Vernon Bogdanor

Keith Joseph - why did he enter politics? - and, as an ineffectual minister, what made him so influential?

Nigel Farage - What is the secret of his influence?

SIR VERNON BOGDANOR is Professor of Government at the Institute of Contemporary British History, King’s College, London. He was formerly for many years Professor of Government at Oxford University. He has written and edited many books on British Government and our Constitution and is currently writing a multi-volume work on British political history from 1895 to 1997.

He has been an adviser on constitutional issues to a number of governments, including Albania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Israel, Mauritius. Slovakia and Trinidad. He is a frequent contributor to the press and also in the media, appearing, for example, on the BBC election programme in 2010, the Brexit referendum programme in 2016 and on programmes to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III.  

Making the Weather analyses the careers of six politicians who, although not becoming Prime Minister, set the agenda of post war British politics and, in doing so, deeply influenced all of our lives. Three – Aneurin Bevan, Roy Jenkins and Tony Benn – are from the left; three – Enoch Powell, Sir Keith Joseph and Nigel Farage -are from the right. 
The influence of all six can still be felt today.  All were contrarians reacting against the conventional wisdom of the day. They sought to educate public opinion, seeking to wrench it away from the consensus of the times, rather than accommodating themselves to that consensus. All sought to be signposts, who said what they meant and meant what they said, rather than weathervanes. They did not wait for opinion polls, focus groups, or spin doctors before articulating their views.
Each of the six made fundamental contributions to the debate about Britain’s future. Each remains a living presence.