Full Circle: The Story

After nearly a generation on the opposition benches, not all was well in the conservative movement in 1984 when Brian Mulroney and his Progressive Conservatives swept to power. After a few short years in office, Mulroney faced an unexpected conservative adversary. It took Preston Manning one election, the retirement of Mulroney and Kim Campbell’s incompetence to bring the PC party down. For the next decade, the PC and Reform/Alliance parties duked it out for survival and supremacy, handing Jean Chrétien three majority governments in the process. Two decades after Mulroney’s first triumph, a new cast of characters emerged to right the ship. Peter MacKay and Stephen Harper laid to rest the decade-long civil war and took the new Conservative party from political wilderness to government in only two years. Given up for dead a decade ago, the Conservatives were back. And in control!

Full Circle: Death and Resurrection in Canadian Conservative Politics lays out, step by step, the strokes and counterstrokes, the promises made and broken, and the betrayals and defections within a movement riven by faction. It was a turnaround that stunned the nation. Indeed, it is hard to imagine that a few short years ago Joe Clark was leader of the PC Party, Stephen Harper was a man to be feared and Paul Martin was about to steamroll the nation.

It is a story that has never been told from beginning to end—until now. Sweeping in its breadth and scope, captivating in its detail and revelation, Bob Plamondon’s Full Circle is the definitive account of this unprecedented period in Canadian political history.

Based on meticulous background research and interviews with fifty key players, Full Circle takes the reader behind the scenes in a high-octane exposé of political machination, intrigue and the ultimate battle for survival. Even those involved in conservative politics will be shocked by its startling revelations and the popular myths that are debunked. It is also an emotional story, chronicled the following the failures and triumphs of the three leading actors—Preston Manning, Peter MacKay, and Stephen Harper. If you want to understand the Conservative party of today, this book is a must-read. Full Circle is breathlessly paced history at its best.