‘Nick Timothy is Britain’s leading conservative thinker if one’s measure is a feel for real people rather than ease with arid theorizing. That this book sets out a trenchant yet sophisticated case for conservatism should come as no surprise. Nor should its stress on what is politically deliverable. But what is most striking is that it is also a serious attempt to find ways of making modern liberalism workable – and rescue it from itself.’
Paul Goodman, Editor of Conservative Home
‘Nick Timothy is a brilliant analyst of our present discontents. His insights are sharp, his writing is compelling and his arguments are powerful. He knows the problems with our politics and takes no prisoners on his quest to put them right.’
Michael Gove MP
‘Nick Timothy has given us a powerful critique of the simplistic liberal ideology that has ruled the right and the left for a generation or more. Analysing the destabilizing effects of unchecked free markets and an exclusive concern with individual freedom, he exposes the insecurities that have led to the dangerous rise of populism. Anyone who worries about the disordered state of politics today will profit from reading this hard-hitting book.’
Professor John Gray, author and philosopher
‘Nick Timothy has written a clear, timely and thought-provoking book, providing a persuasive analysis of how the liberal consensus has lost popular support. Arguing that conservatism should always be focused on how we relate to each other, he points out that its adherents cannot be relaxed about the decline of community or the current extent of inequality. His recommendations will be important for political leaders and thinkers seeking a way forward that is neither veering towards populism nor doomed to be unpopular.’
William Hague, Conservative peer and former Conservative Party Leader
‘Nick Timothy is that rare breed of politico, prophet and philosopher. After masterfully explaining what went wrong, he expertly lays out a new roadmap of how to stop the destruction of our culture and nation. To read this book is to feel convinced that Britain can, once again, lead the Western world back to sanity.’
Ed Husain, author of The House of Islam: A Global History
‘The Conservative Party may now be master of all it surveys, but its obsession with Brexit has denuded it of a consistent and workable political economy – which certainly, as Nick Timothy argues, is not going to lie in reheating some combination of austerity and Thatcherism. In a The State We’re In for the political right that looks unflinchingly at our ills, he sets out a reforming economic and social programme which may chime with Boris Johnson more than the consensus expects – a timely and must-read contribution to the national debate.’
Will Hutton, Principal of Hertford College, Oxford, author of The State We’re In and Observer columnist
‘Nick Timothy’s new book harnesses his unique combination of intellectual depth and practical policy experience to offer a bold and original diagnosis of the ills that bedevil today’s polarized Western societies. He introduces the key idea of the “liberal ratchet”, in which today’s “meritocratic” elite seeks to untether itself from rooted majorities, working through institutions shielded from the electorate – courts, universities, agencies, parts of the media – to advance a universalist vision. Intellectuals are generally drawn to the individualisms of left and right, while their electorates yearn in vain for stability and community. Blending centre-left economics and small-‘c’ conservatism in culture, Timothy’s new book speaks to today’s forgotten majorities.’
Eric Kaufmann, Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London, and author of Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration and the Future of White Majorities
‘People on the left rarely read anything written by conservatives. They should make an exception for Nick Timothy’s book. If they are smart it will make them think. If they are really smart they may be surprised at how much of it they agree with.’
Martin Kettle, Guardian columnist
‘Readers on the right may savour Nick Timothy’s savage take down of the political tribe he brands the “ultra-liberal” – the group he blames for many of the country’s ills. What’s more timely though is what he puts forward as an alternative. The label “One Nation Conservative” is all the rage in SW1, but even to many in Westminster, what it means in practice is still something of a mystery. In an extremely readable way, with the benefit of his experience and agony in government, Timothy defines what that mantra might mean for Conservative policy, and all of our real lives in the 21st century.’
Laura Kuenssberg, BBC Political Editor
‘Nick Timothy has shed a bright light on the crisis facing liberal democracy. Without flinching from hard truths, he offers persuasive diagnoses and plausible prescriptions, where others offer only vitriol and venom. This is a must-read for those struggling to understand this era on both sides of the Atlantic.’
Yuval Levin, author of The Fractured Republic
‘Caught between libertarian economics and social liberalism, contemporary conservatism is in need of a fundamental rethink to address economic and cultural insecurity. Nick Timothy’s brilliant book combines a compelling critique of ultra-liberalism with a thoughtful restatement of One Nation Conservatism that can help to build a majority politics anchored in institutions enabling people to pursue the good life. This is a vital contribution to public political debate in Britain and beyond.’
Professor Adrian Pabst, co-author of The Politics of Virtue: Post-Liberalism and the Human Future
‘Nick Timothy is one of Britain’s most original conservative thinkers. His new book, informed by a near-decade of experience at the heart of government, draws on meticulously researched and well-presented data to examine the complex and chronic maladies of affluent liberal democracies. A must-read for anyone seeking to better understand the deep roots of Brexit and other contemporary political upheavals across the West.’
Bojan Pancevski, Germany Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal
‘In recent years, British politics has blundered into a state of permanent crisis, whose roots run deep. And Nick Timothy didn’t just have a front-row seat – he was on the stage. This book blends an insider account with years of thinking about how we got here and where we might go.’
Amol Rajan, BBC Media Editor
‘Nick Timothy is the genuine Conservative modernizer, forensically challenging fashionable “ultra liberal” orthodoxies and putting the case for a more active state. This is both a gripping read and a route map towards an urgently needed One Nation Conservatism.’
Steve Richards, writer and broadcaster
‘Much of the writing of political philosophy has been done by those who’ve never had to muddy their preconceptions with the grime of power and office. Timothy is unusual in that he combines a ferociously penetrating intellect with a period as a particularly influential chief of staff to the Prime Minister. The resulting book thus has particular authority. Like much of the best political philosophy over the centuries, it is written by someone with understanding.’
Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, historian and author
‘Combining philosophical insights with a wealth of policy experience, Nick Timothy offers a powerful critique of our current political malaise as rooted in the excesses of a distorted liberalism and offers a timely reminder of the intellectual and practical resources of a One Nation Conservatism. Those who want to understand where we are, how we got here, and what a future progressive conservative agenda should look like, will find this book a thought-provoking and rewarding read.’
Dr Matt Sleat, author of Liberal Realism: A Realist