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    • Publisher:
      Manchester University Press
      Publication date:
      08 January 2026
      ISBN:
      9781526158680
      9781526127280
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      • Subjects:
      Politics: General Interest, Sociology: General Interest, Politics and International Relations, Sociology
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    Subjects:
    Politics: General Interest, Sociology: General Interest, Politics and International Relations, Sociology
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    Book description

    This book surveys the elite state of play in Britain as it is now. It argues that the Establishment, as it has been conceived, is coming to an end. The book looks at how elites, by trying to get ahead, have destabilised the very institutions on which their power is based. It also looks at how leaders have adapted to get to the top. Those most suited to pleasing their assessors get there first. The book reveals some of the ways elites use to stay at the top once they get there. It looks at the secrets and lies that underpin elite power and control. Some are systematic and organised, and some are simply the lies leaders tell themselves. The book shows how leadership has been transformed into a numbers game because numbers can be tallied up in a way that ideas cannot. And because elites co-create the game, they can also change the rules as and when they need to. The book focuses on exit strategies and how canny elites survive when it all goes wrong. It briefly explores what solutions there might be to the current problems of leadership.

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