In the early 2010s the development of a shale gas industry was an important and prominent part of the UK government���s energy strategy. Despite this government support, very little progress was made, with minimal drilling activity and no commercial production achieved. Government rhetoric blamed underperforming local authorities for this failure. In this thesis I study local planning processes in order to determine whether they were responsible for the outcome of local planning applications, and the other factors that may have played a part. Using the advocacy coalition framework, I begin by identifying a pro-shale coalition and anti-shale coalition for nine proposed drilling sites in three local authorities in England. I conduct a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of these sites in order to determine which coalitions were most successful and why. More specifically, the fsQCA is applied to determine the extent to which the outcomes of drilling applications are derived from four variables: external events, resources (such as finance and technical expertise), relationships with policy makers and public opinion. I follow this comparative analysis with three more detailed case studies consisting of one proposed drilling site from each local authority. My overall finding is that shale gas applications were determined by a combination of different factors, primarily resource limitations of the part of the pro-shale coalition and favourable external events and public opinion for the anti-shale coalition. These findings challenge some of the assumptions about shale policy. First, I find that local governments ��� considered by the UK government to have obstructed shale development ��� were more often than not permissive, despite their misgivings. Moreover, public opinion played an important part in the development of anti-shale coalitions. Finally, the extent to which a coalition had access to policymakers had no discernible impact on application outcomes. I also outline ways in which the conceptual framework introduced can be applied to similar policy areas, characterised by limited timeframes and the introduction and implementation of new and contested technologies.