Racism and the Tory Party From Disraeli to Johnson

'An accessible and penetrating analysis of the troubling evolution of the contemporary politics of "race" in Britain. Cole illuminates how, across decades and centuries, primary definers within the Conservative Party have strategically used "race" to construct a "hostile environment". For readers located within and beyond British shores, the book provides intellectual insights into how we might investigate the toxic entanglement of "race" and nation.'

Paul Michael Garrett, University of Galway, Republic of Ireland, author of Social Work with Irish Children and Families in Britain (2004) and several other books. These include Welfare Words (2017), Dissenting Social Work: Critical Theory, Resistance and Pandemic (Routledge, 2021) and (with Washington Marovatsanga) Social Work with the Black African Diaspora (2022)

'Mike Cole's Racism and the Tory Party is essential for anyone interested in understanding the historical context for Conservative party racism. Far from being incidental or contingent on populist pragmatism, this book traces how racism has saturated the party for over two centuries. Entrenched within the party, white superiority has combined with national protectionism; stoking fears of miscegenation with attempts to improve white stock in one-nation Toryism; the attempted maintenance of Empire with colonial experimentation in Ireland; liberal multiculturalism with rampant anti-migrant policy. At a time marked by vehement nativism and increased racialisation, this book is a must read for anybody interested in understanding the current state of British political crisis.'

James Trafford, author of The Empire at Home: Internal Colonies and the End of Britain (2020)

'An encyclopaedic and eye-opening expose of the darker corners of the world's oldest political party'

Danny Dorling, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, University of Oxford, co- author of Rule Britannia: Brexit and the end of Empire

"An incredibly useful, learned historical survey of the Tory party's shameful and often downright dishonourable take on all kinds of racism. It deserves a place on all relevant university reading lists"

Melissa Benn, journalist, writer and campaigner