Introduction: political leadership and British political culture; Part 1 David Owen and social democracy: the relationship of speaker to audience; the representation of society; the call to action and moral vision. Part 2 David Steel and liberalism: the argument; personality traits - maxims and truth, humour, the Steel/Owen relationship, passion, claims to an alternative legacy. Part 3 Neil Kinnock and democratic socialism: the representation of the world - the rulers, the ruled; the programme; the projection of leadership persona. Part 4 Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative tradition: government and people; government and morality; government as a task; government as protector; the character of the speaker.

Analyses of leadership speeches by David Owen, David Steel, Neil Kinnock and Margaret Thatcher. The author examines how the leader's conference speech reveals both the constraints upon and the possibilities for the national presentation of personalized political leadership in Britain.