Rather, we are seeing a realignment that is bringing an end to a political era and ushering in another - something that has happened several times before. During a realignment old friendships and alliances are ruptured and former foes become allies. Brexit is both the product of this realignment and something that has accelerated and catalysed it. The outcome will be a kind of politics that will be very different to what anyone now alive has known.
Steve Davies is Head of Education at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. He hasheld this position since 2010, although he has had connections with the IEA since he wasan undergraduate at St Andrews University in 1972. In that capacity he runs theInstitute’s educational and outreach programmes. From 1979 until 2009 he was SeniorLecturer in the Department of History and Economic History at Manchester MetropolitanUniversity. While there he taught courses on a range of topics, including world history,the history of crime and the criminal justice system in the UK, and the history of theDevil. He has also been a Program Officer at the Institute for Humane Studies at Georgemason University in Virginia and Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and PolicyCenter at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
A historian, he graduated from St Andrews University in Scotland in 1976 and gained hisPhD from the same institution in 1984. He was co-editor with Nigel Ashford of TheDictionary of Conservative and Libertarian Thought (Routledge, 1991) and wrote severalentries for The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism edited by Ronald Hamowy (Sage, 2008),including the general introduction. He is also the author of Empiricism and History(Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) and of several articles and essays on topics including theprivate provision of public goods and the history of crime and criminal justice. He hasalso been published in national press outlets (The Times) and had a regular column forfive years at The Freeman magazine. He has written many pieces for the IEA, includingcontributions to several recently published monographs. Among his other interests arescience fiction and the fortunes of Manchester City.
