Alistair B. Cooke was Deputy Director of the Conservative Research Department from 1985 to 1997, and the Director of the Conservative Political Centre from 1988 to 1997. During that time he edited some 300 pamphlets for the Conservative Party, along with 6 volumes of its comprehensive record of policy, the Campaign Guide and collections of Margaret Thatcher and John Major's speeches. He is also the editor of The Conservative Party: Seven Historical Studies, 1680 to the 1990s.