Defunct
92-409: Defunct [REDACTED] Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and style of management while in office. Proponents of Thatcherism are referred to as Thatcherites . The term has been used to describe the principles of
184-621: A conservative party", and her ideology has been seen as confronting "established institutions" and the "accepted beliefs of the elite", both concepts incompatible with the traditional conception of conservatism as signifying support for the established order and existing social convention ( status quo ). Following a third consecutive general election defeat in 2005 , the Conservative Party selected David Cameron as party leader, followed by Theresa May in 2016, both of whom have served as Prime Minister and sought to modernise and change
276-581: A dash of populism . Thatcherism attempts to promote low inflation, the small state and free markets through tight control of the money supply , privatisation and constraints on the labour movement . It is often compared with Reaganomics in the United States, economic rationalism in Australia and Rogernomics in New Zealand and as a key part of the worldwide economic liberal movement. Thatcherism
368-476: A famous 1988 Bruges speech, Thatcher declared: "We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them reimposed at a European level, with a European superstate exercising a new dominance from Brussels". It is often claimed that the word Thatcherism was coined by cultural theorist Stuart Hall in a 1979 Marxism Today article. However, this is not true as Tony Heath first used
460-476: A free and competitive economy, rather than being an innovation of Thatcherism, was one "more or less permanent ingredient in modern Conservative philosophy": It was on that principle that Churchill fought the 1945 election, having just read Hayek's Road to Serfdom . [...] What brought the Tories to 13 years of political supremacy in 1951 was the slogan 'Set the people free'. [...] There is absolutely nothing new about
552-421: A high moral content". In practical terms, he claimed this expressed itself in her preoccupation with "the freedom of Afghanistan rather than the security of Ulster". Such leftist critics as Anthony Giddens claim that Thatcherism was purely an ideology and argue that her policies marked a change which was dictated more by political interests than economic reasons: Rather than by any specific logic of capitalism,
644-622: A higher cap. There has also been an emphasis on human rights , in particular the European Convention on Human Rights , whilst also supporting individual initiative. The 2010s saw greater division within the Conservative Party, almost exclusively over Brexit and the direction of the Brexit negotiations . Ahead of the 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union , 184 of the 330 Conservative MPs (55.7%) backed Remain, compared to 218 of
736-464: A list which is about 50 countries globally. World Bank uses a threshold of 1.5 million population or less to describe a small state, which is about 40 nations, and there is another dozen close to 1.5 million but have similar issues as the other small states. World Bank lists the following countries as small states using their definition: If a threshold of 1.5 million people was chosen, at one time this included about 30 countries. The point at which
828-462: A nineteenth-century Liberal". As Ellen Meiksins Wood has argued, Thatcherite capitalism was compatible with traditional British political institutions. As prime minister, Thatcher did not challenge ancient institutions such as the monarchy or the House of Lords , but some of the most recent additions, such as the trade unions. Indeed, many leading Thatcherites, including Thatcher herself, went on to join
920-567: A political platform emphasising free markets with restrained government spending and tax cuts that gets coupled with British nationalism both at home and abroad. Thatcher herself rarely used the word "Thatcherism". However, she gave a speech in Solihull during her campaign for the 1987 general election and included in a discussion of the economic successes the remark: "that's what I call Thatcherism". The Daily Telegraph stated in April 2008 that
1012-651: A significant part in Thatcherite reforms, and Thatcher said that choice was also Christian, stating that Jesus Christ chose to lay down his life and that all individuals have the God-given right to choose between good and evil . Whilst Thatcher was prime minister, she greatly embraced transatlantic relations with US president Ronald Reagan . She often publicly supported Reagan's policies even when other Western allies were not as vocal. For example, she granted permission for American planes to use British bases for raids, such as
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#17328514301101104-535: A small state becomes a microstate, has been defined in research as being as low as 100 thousand people but up to 1.5 million, though one million is most common. The Commonwealth Secretariat defines 42 countries in the world to be small states , and further notes of these 33 of them are part of the Commonwealth of Nations . The Secretariat was founded in the 1980s to advocate for small states, noting their increased vulnerability. One noted small states organization,
1196-471: A systematic, decisive rejection and reversal of the post-war consensus inside Great Britain in terms of governance, whereby the major political parties largely agreed on the central themes of Keynesianism , the welfare state , nationalised industry , and close regulation of the British economy before Thatcher's rise to prominence. Under her administration, there was one major exception to Thatcherite changes:
1288-471: Is a usually inclusive to microstates;while microstates can be considered small states, not all small states are microstates. There is different criteria for defining small states. Metrics for defining a small state look at aspects of country including area, population, size of the government, territory, and political situation. One of the most common metrics to look at is population, which constraints other aspects, and countries with less than one million people
1380-612: Is all too similar to Reaganism : free-market rhetoric masking statist content". Stuart McAnulla said that Thatcherism is actually liberal conservatism , a combination of liberal economics and a strong state. Another important aspect of Thatcherism is the style of governance. Britain in the 1970s was often referred to as "ungovernable". Thatcher attempted to redress this by centralising a great deal of power to herself as prime minister, often bypassing traditional cabinet structures (such as cabinet committees). This personal approach also became identified with personal toughness at times, such as
1472-415: Is also associated with supply-side economics . Whereas Keynesian economics holds that the government should stimulate economic growth by increasing demand through increased credit and public spending, supply-side economists argue that the government should instead intervene only to create a free market by lowering taxes, privatising state industries and increasing restraints on trade unionism. Reduction in
1564-562: Is associated with libertarianism within the Conservative Party, albeit one of libertarian ends achieved by using strong leadership. British political commentator Andrew Marr has called libertarianism the "dominant, if unofficial, characteristic of Thatcherism". Whereas some of her heirs, notably Michael Portillo and Alan Duncan , embraced this libertarianism, others in the Thatcherite movement such as John Redwood sought to become more populist . Some commentators have argued that Thatcherism should not be considered properly libertarian. Noting
1656-545: Is one common benchmark. However some institutions have used different standards, such as 1.5 million or higher, and especially if the states define themselves and want to be defined that way. Two important listings of small states are the World Bank and the Forum on Small states, which includes about 50 and over 100 nations respectively. Two thirds of U.N. members can be considered small states by some definitions, while World Bank made
1748-530: Is poison" and "I owe nothing to Women's lib ". In May 1988, Thatcher gave an address to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland . In the speech, Thatcher offered a theological justification for her ideas on capitalism and the market economy. She said, "Christianity is about spiritual redemption, not social reform", and she quoted St. Paul by saying, "If a man will not work he shall not eat". Choice played
1840-553: Is similar to the term microstate or ministate , a sovereign state having a very small population or land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law. Two important definitions for a small state are World Bank, which defines small state as those with less than 1.5 million people, which is about 40-50 countries, and the U.N. Forum on Small States which has higher threshold and includes about 100 countries, most of which are under 5 million people. In practice small state
1932-496: Is solutions based on free markets". His deputy at the time Peter Lilley elaborated and said, "belief in the free market has only ever been part of Conservatism". British conservative Conservatism in the United Kingdom is related to its counterparts in other Western nations, but has a distinct tradition and has encompassed a wide range of theories over the decades of conservatism . The Conservative Party , which forms
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#17328514301102024-488: Is thus often compared to classical liberalism . Milton Friedman said that "Margaret Thatcher is not in terms of belief a Tory. She is a nineteenth-century Liberal ". Thatcher herself stated during a speech in 1983: "I would not mind betting that if Mr Gladstone were alive today he would apply to join the Conservative Party". In the 1996 Keith Joseph memorial lecture, Thatcher argued: "The kind of Conservatism which he and I [...] favoured would be best described as 'liberal', in
2116-618: Is what we believe". In contrast to previous government policy, monetarism placed a priority on controlling inflation over controlling unemployment. According to monetarist theory, inflation is the result of there being too much money in the economy. It was claimed that the government should seek to control the money supply to control inflation. By 1979, it was not only the Thatcherites arguing for stricter inflation control. The Labour Chancellor Denis Healey had already adopted some monetarist policies, such as reducing public spending and selling off
2208-422: The 1986 United States bombing of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , and allowed American cruise missiles and Pershing missiles to be housed on British soil in response to Soviet deployment of SS-20 nuclear missiles targeting Britain and other Western European nations. While Euroscepticism has for many become a characteristic of Thatcherism, Thatcher was far from consistent on the issue, only becoming truly Eurosceptic in
2300-520: The 2015 general election . Although nominally a Conservative, Disraeli was sympathetic to some of the demands of the Chartists and argued for an alliance between the landed aristocracy and the working class against the increasing power of the middle class, helping to found the Young England group in 1842 to promote the view that the rich should use their power to protect the poor from exploitation by
2392-624: The Act of Union , British conservatism, was the Tory Party . It reflected the attitudes of a rural landowning class, and championed the institutions of the monarchy, the Anglican Church , the family, and property as the best defence of the social order. In the early stages of the Industrial Revolution , it seemed to be totally opposed to a process that seemed to undermine some of these bulwarks, and
2484-456: The British government under Thatcher from the 1979 general election to her resignation in 1990 . In international terms, Thatcherites have been described as a part of the general socio-economic movement known as neoliberalism , with different countries besides the United Kingdom (such as the United States) sharing similar policies around expansionary capitalism . Thatcherism represents
2576-735: The Clement Attlee government's post-war reforms, there was continuous right-wing opposition in the lower ranks of the party, in right-wing pressure groups like the Middle Class Alliance and the People's League for the Defence of Freedom and later in think tanks like the Centre for Policy Studies . For example, in the 1945 general election , the Conservative Party chairman Ralph Assheton had wanted 12,000 abridged copies of The Road to Serfdom (a book by
2668-612: The Falklands War in 1982, the IRA bomb at the Conservative conference in 1984 and the miners' strike in 1984–85. Sir Charles Powell , the foreign affairs private secretary to the Prime Minister (1984–1991 and 1996), described her style as such: "I've always thought there was something Leninist about Mrs Thatcher which came through in the style of government: the absolute determination,
2760-623: The National Health Service (NHS), which was widely popular with the British public. In 1982, Thatcher promised that the NHS was "safe in our hands". The exact terms of what makes up Thatcherism and its specific legacy in British history over the past decades are controversial. Ideologically, Thatcherism has been described by Nigel Lawson , Thatcher's Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1983 to 1989, as
2852-444: The wealth disparity between the richest and poorest in society allegedly "helped the party to break down class barriers", according to the Conservative peer Lord Norton. As a young man, Disraeli was influenced by the romantic movement and medievalism , and developed a critique of industrialism. In his novels, he outlined an England divided into two nations, each living in perfect ignorance of each other. He foresaw, like Karl Marx ,
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2944-499: The "Flapper Election". A Neo-Tory movement flourished in the 1930s as part of a pan-European reaction against modernity. A network of right-wing intellectuals and allied politicians ridiculed democracy, liberalism and modern capitalism as degenerate. They warned against the emergence of a corporate state in Britain imposed from above. The intellectuals involved followed trends in Italy, France and especially Germany. The exchange of ideas with
3036-525: The 232 Labour MPs (97%), and all MPs from the SNP and Liberal Democrats. Following the vote to leave on the morning of 24 June, Cameron said that he would resign as Prime Minister, and was replaced by Theresa May. In 2019, two new parliamentary caucuses were formed; One Nation Conservatives and Blue Collar Conservatives . Small state Small state is a generic term for a small country, that has limited land, population, or resources. The term "small state"
3128-557: The Conservative Party created the Workers Defence Union (WDU), which was designed to frighten the working class into voting for them . Though the WDU initially promoted tariff reform to protect domestic factory jobs, it soon switched to launching xenophobic and antisemitic attacks on immigrant workers and business owners, achieving considerable success by arousing fears of " alien subversion". The WDU's messages found recipients among
3220-408: The Conservative Party has always wanted". Historians Emily Robinson, Camilla Schofield, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite and Natalie Thomlinson have argued that by the 1970s, Britons were keen on defining and claiming their individual rights, identities and perspectives. They demanded greater personal autonomy and self-determination and less outside control. They angrily complained that the establishment
3312-555: The Conservative Party held a dinner in London Hilton to honour the anniversary. During the dinner, several speeches were given. To Thatcher's astonishment, the Conservatives had decided that it was time to shelve the economic policies of the 1980s. The Conservative Party leader at the time, William Hague , said that the party had learnt its lesson from the 1980s and called it a "great mistake to think that all Conservatives have to offer
3404-455: The House of Lords, an honour which William Ewart Gladstone , for instance, had declined. Thinkers closely associated with Thatcherism include Keith Joseph , Enoch Powell , Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. In an interview with Simon Heffer in 1996, Thatcher stated that the two greatest influences on her as Conservative leader had been Joseph and Powell, who were both "very great men". Thatcher
3496-529: The Labour Party from 1983 to 1992, initiated Labour's rightward shift across the political spectrum by largely concurring with the economic policies of the Thatcher government. The New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were described as "neo-Thatcherite" by some on the left since many of their economic policies mimicked those of Thatcher. In 1999, twenty years after Thatcher had come to power,
3588-464: The Liberal advantage among the middle classes. Disraeli defined the Conservative approach and strengthened Conservatism as a grassroots political force. Conservatism no longer was the philosophical defence of the landed aristocracy but had been refreshed into redefining its commitment to the ideals of order, both secular and religious, expanding imperialism, strengthened monarchy, and a more generous vision of
3680-611: The acts of individuals and families as the real sinews of society rather than of society as an abstract concept. Her approach to society reflects her fundamental belief in personal responsibility and choice. To leave things to society is to run away from the real decisions, practical responsibility and effective action. Thatcherism is associated with a conservative stance on morality . Sutcliffe-Braithwaite (2012) argues that Thatcherism married conservatism with free-market economics . Thatcherism did not propose dramatic new panaceas such as Milton Friedman's negative income tax . Instead,
3772-399: The aggressive tone of socialist rhetoric, and supported imperialism and traditional values. Conservatives claimed that they represented orderly politics, peace, and the interests of the ex-serviceman's family. The 1928 Act added five million more women to the electoral roll and had the effect of making women a majority, 52.7%, of the electorate in the 1929 general election , which was termed
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3864-440: The anti-socialist economist Friedrich Hayek later closely associated with Thatcherism), taking up one-and-a-half tons of the party's paper ration, distributed as election propaganda. The historian Christopher Cooper traced the formation of the monetarist economics at the heart of Thatcherism back to the resignation of the Conservative chancellor of the Exchequer, Peter Thorneycroft , in 1958. As early as 1950, Thatcher accepted
3956-507: The battle to control the money supply. The economist C. F. Pratten claimed that "since 1984, behind a veil of rhetoric, the government has lost any faith it had in technical monetarism. The money supply, as measured by M3 , has been allowed to grow erratically, while calculation of the public sector borrowing requirement is held down by the ruse of subtracting the proceeds of privatisation as well as taxes from government expenditure. The principles of monetarism have been abandoned". Thatcherism
4048-416: The belief that there's a vanguard which is right and if you keep that small, tightly knit team together, they will drive things through ... there's no doubt that in the 1980s, No. 10 could beat the bushes of Whitehall pretty violently. They could go out and really confront people, lay down the law, bully a bit". By 1987, after Thatcher's successful third re-election, criticism of Thatcherism increased. At
4140-485: The consensus of the day about the welfare state, claiming the credit belonged to the Conservatives in a speech to the Conservative Association annual general meeting. Biographer Charles Moore states: Neither at the beginning of her career nor when she was prime minister, did Margaret Thatcher ever reject the wartime foundations of the welfare state, whether in health, social policy or education. In this she
4232-514: The consensus), unemployment averaged less than 3%. The post-war consensus included a belief in Keynesian economics , a mixed economy with the nationalisation of major industries, the establishment of the National Health Service and the creation of the modern welfare state in Britain. The policies were instituted by all governments, both Labour and Conservative, in the post-war period. The consensus has been held to characterise British politics until
4324-435: The continent was at first a source of inspiration, reassurance and hope. After Hitler's rise in 1933 it meant their downfall. War with Germany in 1939 ended British participation in transnational radical conservatism. During and after World War II, the Conservative Party made concessions to the social democratic policies enacted by the previous Labour government. This compromise was a pragmatic measure to regain power, but also
4416-430: The continuation, of the old Tory Party ", and the Conservatives are often still referred to as Tories . The Australian scholar Glen Worthington has said: "For Edmund Burke and Australians of a like mind, the essence of conservatism lies not in a body of theory, but in the disposition to maintain those institutions seen as central to the beliefs and practices of society." The old established form of English and, after
4508-531: The course of history but had not necessarily needed to reveal its meaning to historians. Thanks to Iain Macleod , Edward Heath and Enoch Powell , special attention was paid to " One-nation conservatism " (coined by Disraeli) that promised support for the poorer and working-class elements in the Party coalition. However, in the 1980s, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher , and the influence of Keith Joseph , there
4600-486: The doctrinal front that she presents on these matters. [...] As for 'privatisation', Mr. Powell proposed it in [...] 1968. As for 'property-owning democracy', I believe it was Anthony Eden who coined the phrase. In foreign policy, Utley claimed Thatcher's desire to restore British greatness did not mean "primarily a power devoted to the preservation of its own interests" but that she belonged "to that militant Whig branch of English Conservatism...her view of foreign policy has
4692-400: The economic crises of the 1970s (see Secondary banking crisis of 1973–1975 ) which led to the end of the post-war economic boom and the rise of monetarist economics. The roots of Keynes's economics, however, lie in a critique of the economics of the depression of the interwar period. Keynesianism encouraged a more active role of the government in order to "manage overall demand so that there
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#17328514301104784-713: The end of 1990. While credited with reviving Britain's economy, Thatcher also was blamed for spurring a doubling of the relative poverty rate. Britain's childhood-poverty rate in 1997 was the highest in Europe. When she resigned in 1990, 28% of the children in Great Britain were considered to be below the poverty line , a number that kept rising to reach a peak of nearly 30% during the government of Thatcher's successor, John Major . During her government, Britain's Gini coefficient reflected this growing difference, going from 0.25 in 1979 to 0.34 in 1990, at about which value it remained for
4876-438: The functioning of the free economy". Several commentators have traced the origins of Thatcherism in post-war British politics. The historian Ewen Green claimed there was resentment of the inflation, taxation and the constraints imposed by the labour movement, which was associated with the so-called Buttskellite consensus in the decades before Thatcher came to prominence. Although the Conservative leadership accommodated itself to
4968-455: The goal was to create a rational tax-benefit economic system that would increase British efficiency while supporting a conservative social system based on traditional morality. There would still be a minimal safety net for the poor, but the major emphasis was on encouraging individual effort and thrift . Thatcherism sought to minimise the importance of welfare for the middle classes and reinvigorate Victorian bourgeois virtues. Thatcherism
5060-579: The government's shares in BP . Moreover, it has been argued that the Thatcherites were not strictly monetarist. A common theme centres on the Medium Term Financial Strategy, issued in the 1980 budget, which consisted of targets for reducing the growth of the money supply in the following years. After overshooting many of these targets, the Thatcher government revised the targets upwards in 1982. Analysts have interpreted this as an admission of defeat in
5152-446: The ideological position of British conservatism. From the 2010s to the present, the party has occupied a position on the right-wing of the political spectrum. In efforts to rebrand and increase the party's appeal, both leaders have adopted policies which align with liberal conservatism . This has included a "greener" environmental and energy stance, and adoption of some socially liberal views. Some of these policies were thrust upon
5244-468: The industrial and economic reforms of the Thatcher period" and as well that "much of what she wanted to do in the 1980s was inevitable, a consequence not of ideology but of social and economic change." [A] mixture of free markets , financial discipline , firm control over public expenditure , tax cuts , nationalism , " Victorian values " (of the Samuel Smiles self-help variety ), privatisation and
5336-597: The last years of her time as prime minister. Thatcher supported Britain's entry into the European Economic Community in 1973, campaigned for a "Yes" vote in the 1975 referendum and signed the Single European Act in 1986. Towards the end of the 1980s, Thatcher (and so Thatcherism) became increasingly vocal in its opposition to allowing the European Community to supersede British sovereignty. In
5428-554: The left in 1909 by ridiculing the Conservatives as, "the party of the rich against the poor, of the classes ... against the masses, of the lucky, the wealthy, the happy, and the strong against the left-out and the shut-out millions of the weak and poor." His harsh words were hurled back at him when he rejoined the Conservative Party in 1924. The shock of a landslide defeat in 1906 forced the Conservatives to rethink their operations, and they worked to build grassroots organisations that would help them win votes. Responding to their defeat,
5520-513: The mainstream right-wing party in Britain, has developed many different internal factions and ideologies. Edmund Burke is often considered the father of modern English conservatism in the English-speaking world . Burke was a member of a conservative faction of the Whig party; the modern Conservative Party however has been described by Lord Norton of Louth as "the heir, and in some measure
5612-771: The middle and upper classes as well, broadening their voter base. Women played a new role in the early twentieth century, as was signalled in 1906 with the establishment of the Women's Unionist and Tariff Reform Association (WUTRA). When the Liberals failed to support women's suffrage, the Conservatives acted, especially by passing the Representation of the People Act 1918 and the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 . They realised that housewives were often conservative in outlook, were averse to
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#17328514301105704-445: The middle class. The conversion of the Conservative Party into a modern mass organisation was accelerated by the concept of Tory Democracy attributed to Lord Randolph Churchill , father of Winston Churchill . Winston Churchill , although best known as the most prominent conservative since Disraeli, crossed the aisle in 1904 and became a Liberal for two decades. As one of the most active and aggressive orators of his day, he thrilled
5796-598: The new industrial elite were seen by many as enemies to the social order. It split in 1846 following the repeal of the Corn Laws (the tariff on imported corn). Proponents of free trade in the late 19th and early 20th centuries failed to make much headway as "tariff reform" resulted in new tariffs. The coalition of traditional landowners and sympathetic industrialists constituted the new Conservative Party . Conservatism evolved after 1820, embracing imperialism and realisation that an expanded working-class electorate could neutralise
5888-526: The next 20 years, under both Conservative and Labour governments. The extent to which one can say Thatcherism has a continuing influence on British political and economic life is unclear. It could be said that a "post-Thatcherite consensus" exists in modern British political culture, especially regarding monetary policy. In the 1980s, the now defunct Social Democratic Party adhered to a "tough and tender" approach in which Thatcherite reforms were coupled with additional welfare provisions. Neil Kinnock , leader of
5980-440: The old-fashioned sense. And I mean the liberalism of Mr Gladstone, not of the latter day collectivists ". Thatcher once told Friedrich Hayek : "I know you want me to become a Whig; no, I am a Tory". Hayek believed "she has felt this very clearly". The relationship between Thatcherism and liberalism is complicated. Thatcher's former defence secretary John Nott claimed that "it is a complete misreading of her beliefs to depict her as
6072-447: The one side, and the aristocracy and rural gentry on the other. The aristocracy gained strength as businessmen discovered that they could use their wealth to buy a peerage and a country estate. Disraeli set up a Conservative Central Office , established in 1870, and the newly formed National Union (which drew together local voluntary associations), gave the party "additional unity and strength", and Disraeli's views on social reform and
6164-425: The party conference that her third term was to be about 'social affairs'. During her last three years in power, she attempted to reform socialised welfare, differing from her earlier stated goal of "rolling back the state". Thatcherism is associated with the economic theory of monetarism , notably put forward by Friedrich Hayek 's The Constitution of Liberty which Thatcher had banged on a table while saying "this
6256-820: The party in the 2010–2015 coalition with the Liberal Democrats , such as acceptance of same-sex marriage , which the Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone initially put forward. Many of these policies have been accompanied by a fiscal conservatism , in which they have maintained a hard stance on bringing down the deficit, and embarked upon a programme of economic austerity. Other modern policies which align with one-nation conservatism and Christian democracy include education reform, extending student loan applicants to postgraduate applicants, and allowing those from poorer backgrounds to go further, whilst still increasing tuition fees and introducing
6348-493: The phenomenon of an alienated industrial proletariat. His solution involved a return to an idealised view of a corporate or organic society, in which everyone had duties and responsibilities towards other people or groups. This "one nation" conservatism is still a significant tradition in British politics, in both the Conservative Party and Labour , especially with the rise of the Scottish National Party during
6440-577: The power of the trades unions was made gradually, unlike the approach of the Edward Heath government, and the most significant single confrontation with the unions was the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) strike of 1984–1985, in which the miners' union was eventually defeated. Evidence shows that the Conservative Party and the NUM anticipated this confrontation with the trade unions. The outcome contributed to
6532-597: The programme of the next non-Conservative government, with Tony Blair 's " New Labour " organisation governing the nation throughout the 1990s and 2000s, basically accepted the central reform measures of Thatcherism such as deregulation , privatisation of key national industries, maintaining a flexible labour market , marginalising the trade unions and centralising power from local authorities to central government. While Blair distanced himself from certain aspects of Thatcherism earlier in his career, in his 2010 autobiography A Journey , he argued both that "Britain needed
6624-411: The report were labelled a number of recommendations: the appointment of a minister to control all the insurance schemes; a standard weekly payment by people in work as a contribution to the insurance fund; old age pensions, maternity grants, funeral grants, pensions for widows and for people injured at work; a new national health service to be established. In the period between 1945 and 1970 (the years of
6716-416: The result of the early successes of central planning and state ownership forming a cross-party consensus. The conservative version was known as Butskellism , after the almost identical Keynesian policies of Rab Butler on behalf of the Conservatives and Hugh Gaitskell for Labour. The "post-war consensus" emerged as an all-party national government under Churchill, who promised Britons a better life after
6808-411: The resurgence of the power of capital over labour . All too often the ills of this country are passed off as those of society. Similarly, when action is required, society is called upon to act. But society as such does not exist except as a concept. Society is made up of people. It is people who have duties and beliefs and resolve. It is people who get things done. [Thatcher] prefers to think in terms of
6900-485: The reversal was brought about by voluntary reductions in social expenditures, higher taxes on low incomes and the lowering of taxes on higher incomes. This is the reason why in Great Britain in the mid 1980s the members of the top decile possessed more than a half of all the wealth. To justify this by means of economic "objectivities" would be an ideology. What is at play here are interests and power. The Conservative historian of Peterhouse , Maurice Cowling , also questioned
6992-405: The teaching of "the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship" in schools. In her 1987 speech to the Conservative Party conference, Thatcher stated: Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay ... All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life—yes, cheated. The law
7084-456: The tendency towards strong central government in matters concerning the trade unions and local authorities, Andrew Gamble summarised Thatcherism as "the free economy and the strong state". Simon Jenkins accused the Thatcher government of carrying out a nationalisation of Britain. Libertarian political theorist Murray Rothbard did not consider Thatcherism to be libertarian and heavily criticised Thatcher and Thatcherism, stating that "Thatcherism
7176-570: The term as valid, with the High Tory journalist T. E. Utley believing "There is no such thing as Thatcherism". Utley contended that the term was a creation of Thatcher's enemies who wished to damage her by claiming that she had an inflexible devotion to a particular set of principles and also by some of her friends who had little sympathy for what he called "the English political tradition" because it facilitated "compromise and consensus". Utley argued that
7268-514: The term in an article he wrote that appeared in Tribune on 10 August 1973. Writing as Tribune ' s education correspondent, Heath wrote: "It will be argued that teachers are members of a profession which must not be influenced by political considerations. With the blight of Thatcherism spreading across the land that is a luxury that only the complacent can afford". Although the term had been widely used before then, not all social critics have accepted
7360-492: The time, Thatcher claimed it was necessary to tackle the "culture of dependency" by government intervention to stop socialised welfare. In 1988, she caused controversy when she made the remarks, "You do not blame society. Society is not anyone. You are personally responsible" and, "Don't blame society – that's no one." These comments attracted significant criticism, including from other conservatives due to their belief in individual and collective responsibility. In 1988, Thatcher told
7452-420: The uniqueness of "Thatcherism". Cowling claimed that Thatcher used "radical variations on that patriotic conjunction of freedom, authority, inequality, individualism and average decency and respectability, which had been the Conservative Party's theme since at least 1886". Cowling further contended that the "Conservative Party under Mrs Thatcher has used a radical rhetoric to give intellectual respectability to what
7544-535: The war. Conservatives especially promoted educational reforms to reach a much larger population. The foundations of the post-war consensus was the Beveridge Report . This was a report by William Beveridge , a Liberal economist who in 1942 formulated the concept of a more comprehensive welfare state in Great Britain. The report sought widespread reform by identifying the "five giants on the road of reconstruction": "Want… Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness". In
7636-481: The welfare state as opposed to the punitive vision of the Whigs and Liberals. As early as 1835, Disraeli attacked the Whigs and utilitarians as slavishly devoted to an industrial oligarchy, while he described his fellow Tories as the only "really democratic party of England" and devoted to the interests of the whole people. Nevertheless, inside the party there was a tension between the growing numbers of wealthy businessmen on
7728-428: The whirlwind. Despite her association with social conservatism , Thatcher voted in 1966 to legalise homosexuality, one of the few Conservative MPs to do so. That same year, she also voted in support of legal abortion. However, in the 1980s during her time as prime minister, the Thatcher government enacted Section 28 , a law that opposed the "intentional promotion" of homosexuality by local authorities and "promotion" of
7820-411: Was a balance between demand and output". The post-war consensus in favour of the welfare state forced conservative historians, typified by Herbert Butterfield , to re-examine British history. They were no longer optimistic about human nature, nor the possibility of progress, yet neither were they open to liberalism's emphasis on individualism. As a Christian, Butterfield could argue that God had decided
7912-429: Was a dramatic shift in the ideological direction of British conservatism, with a movement towards free-market economic policies and neoliberalism (commonly referred to as Thatcherism ). As one commentator explains, "The privatisation of state owned industries, unthinkable before, became commonplace [during Thatcher's government] and has now been imitated all over the world." Thatcher was described as "a radical in
8004-498: Was a strong critic of communism , Marxism and socialism . Biographer John Campbell reports that in July 1978, when asked by a Labour MP in Commons what she meant by socialism, "she was at a loss to reply. What in fact she meant was Government support for inefficient industries, punitive taxation, regulation of the labour market, price controls – everything that interfered with
8096-453: Was family centred, unlike the extreme individualism of most neoliberal models. It had its roots in historical experiences such as Methodism and the fear of the too-powerful state that had troubled Hayek. Norman Tebbit , a close ally of Thatcher, laid out in a 1985 lecture what he thought to be the permissive society that conservatives should oppose: Bad art was as good as good art. Grammar and spelling were no longer important. To be clean
8188-458: Was less radical than her critics or some of her admirers supposed. Her concern was to focus more on abuse of the system, on bureaucracy and union militancy, and on the growth of what later came to be called the dependency culture, rather than on the system itself. Historian Richard Vinen is sceptical about there being Thatcherism before Thatcher. Thatcher saw herself as creating a libertarian movement, rejecting traditional Toryism . Thatcherism
8280-421: Was no better than to be filthy. Good manners were no better than bad. Family life was derided as an outdated bourgeois concept. Criminals deserved as much sympathy as their victims. Many homes and classrooms became disorderly; if there was neither right nor wrong there could be no basis for punishment or reward. Violence and soft pornography became accepted in the media. Thus was sown the wind; and we are now reaping
8372-616: Was opposed by many gay rights advocates such as Stonewall and OutRage! . Tony Blair's Labour government repealed it in 2000 (in Scotland) and 2003. Conservative prime minister David Cameron later issued an official apology for previous Conservative policies on homosexuality, specifically the introduction of the controversial Section 28 laws from the 1980s, viewing past ideological views as "a mistake" with his ideological direction . Regarding feminism Thatcher said "The feminists hate me, don't they? And I don't blame them. For I hate feminism. It
8464-448: Was withholding it. They argue that this shift in concerns had helped cause Thatcherism and was incorporated into its appeal. Critics of Thatcherism claim that its successes were obtained only at the expense of great social costs to the British population. There were nearly 3.3 million unemployed in Britain in 1984, compared to 1.5 million when she first came to power in 1979, though that figure had reverted to 1.6 million by
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