Chapter 5

Chapter Summary

In the aftermath of the Second World War, some commentators felt that the two major political parties in Britain were ‘converging’ ideologically. Daniel Bell, an American sociologist, wrote of ‘the end of ideology’, and in the 1970s a post-war ‘consensus’ was discerned between the two parties on the desirability of a welfare state and a mixed economy. Britain’s relative economic decline inclined both parties to adopt more radical remedies that drew on their ideological roots. Margaret Thatcher swung the Conservatives violently to the right, while Labour went radically to the left in the early 1980s. Once Thatcher had left the stage in 1990, John Major adopted a less overtly ideological stance, while Labour, following the failed experiment of Michael Foot as leader (1981–3), successively under Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair moved rapidly into the centre. David Cameron revived the Conservative Party after his election in 2005, but came unstuck over EU membership on which, in 2013 he promised a referendum. Meanwhile, after 2015 Labour underwent a left-wing transformation under Jeremy Corbyn which did not include any electoral triumphs: he bowed out as leader after the disastrous 2019 election and in April 2020 Keir Starmer took over. This chapter analyses the evolution of the ideas of the major parties and brings up to date their most recent changes.

Conservatism is more than mere pragmatism in the ruling interest. It also includes a concern for unity, harmony and balance in a society based on property, equal opportunity, elite rule and gradual change. Margaret Thatcher gave major prominence to the neo-liberal strand in Conservatism, which stressed the primacy of markets in economics. Major returned to the rhetoric of ‘one nation’ Conservatism but contained the practice of Thatcherism. Labour began as a socialist party dedicated to the replacement of capitalism by a collectively owned economy but, in government, translated this into nationalisation, a policy of dubious success. In opposition during the 1980s it gradually shed its socialist clothes and donned those of the free market and restricted public spending: in effect a compromise with Thatcherism. Liberal Democrats inherited the ‘new liberal ideas’ of the early twentieth century to which they added an initial disposition to work with the Labour Party in office, something which faded after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Coalition Government 2010–15 succeeded in lasting its full parliamentary term, but Cameron’s offer of a referendum to appease his right wing and deflect the electoral threat of UKIP proved a disaster when Leave won the vote and the country was plunged into the complexities of Brexit. Using unorthodox methods, Boris Johnson sealed a new deal with the EU, easily won a general election in December 2019 but his success in delivering Brexit was overshadowed by the national onset of coronavirus infection. To deal with this Johnson reversed several signature Conservative tenets of belief to lead a powerfully collective response. Meanwhile Labour concluded its five year love-hate affair with radical socialism in April 2020 by electing Keir Starmer.

Learning Objectives

To explain:

•  To explain the provenance of Conservatism and the ideology of capitalist free enterprise, to explain the difference between ‘one nation’ and neo-liberal Conservatism and to assess the impact of Margaret Thatcher on her party’s ideas.
• To trace the origins of Labour thinking from the rejection of nineteenth-century capitalism, through corporate socialism to revisionism, Blairism; then the troubled period of Corbyn’s leadership followed by Starmer’s stewardship in 2020.
• To sum up the message of the Liberal Party over the years, including its alliance with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and evolution into the Liberal Democrats.
• To assess the impact of UKIP and, in turn, Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic on political thinking.

Quizzes

Test your knowledge with the Chapter 1 quizzes!

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Discussion Questions

1. Many academic writers describe Conservatism as more of an attitude rather than a political ideology, or at least an ideology which is very ‘light’, what is meant by this in relation to other ideologies such as Socialism?
2. What impact have recent events, such as the coronavirus crisis and Brexit had on the ways the two major British parties approach politics?

Weblinks

Centre for Policy Studies – A think tank promoting free-market and conservative policies. (www.cps.org.uk)

Conservative Party – The official website of the UK’s Conservative Party. (www.conservatives.com)

Institute of Economic Affairs – A free-market think tank analyzing economic and public policy. (www.iea.org.uk)

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) – A progressive think tank focusing on social justice and economic policy. (www.ippr.org.uk)

Labour Party – The official website of the UK Labour Party. (www.labour.org.uk)

Liberal Democrats – The official website of the UK Liberal Democrats. (www.libdems.org.uk)

Flashcards

Refresh your knowledge of key terms with this chapter’s flashcards.

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Timeline

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