David Cameron cycles to work but he tries to show us that he cares about long distance commuters, something that Thatcher didn’t worry about. He plans to build a high speed rail revolution connecting London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. This will cost millions of pounds to build, something going against conservative values of efficiency and public cuts. Between 1979/1980 to 1989/1990 while the conservatives were in power, public spending was decreased by 5.8%.
“Hug a hoodie” was a David Cameron policy in which he intends to look after, or nurture those who are troublesome teenagers. This angered many traditional conservatives as there approach would be punishment of those who break the law, not teach them that it is wrong. Under the last Conservative government, within ten years pubic spending on law and order went up by 53.3% and this wasn’t to rehabilitate or teach the criminals.
Cameron’s plans is to spend more on education, increasing public spending, something that will please traditional conservatives. He says on his website that he wants “hundreds of good new schools within the state system” which will be beneficial to the economy in the future, plus it ensures a future of conservatives as the young will grow into men with good jobs, and those with good jobs and money will want to keep money and therefore will vote conservative.
The NHS is something which will divide the conservatives continually. It is a public service which goes against everything the conservatives stand for, yet Cameron has pledged that if he came to power he will increase public spending on the NHS, the slogan being NHyeS. The Times wrote an article about how the NHS would actually be safer under the conservatives than under Labour, something hard to believe by any traditional Conservative as they most likely have private healthcare and therefore don’t want to pay for other people’s healthcare as well as there own. This is another way Cameron is against his traditional Conservative values.
The economy is a way Cameron clashes with the hard nut old school conservatives as they believe that public spending should be cut and taxes reduced, but Cameron said that no cuts will happen at this time. This could be that he is worried about the country’s economic state as we are in recession, but this doesn’t explain his idea to cut public spending as this would worsen the problem according to many top economists.
Cameron has tried to appease the traditional conservatives by saying that he will cut taxes as this is what they want. He said that he will only do this if the economy permits him too and therefore will not damage the economy. This is exactly what Thatcher did when she came to power in 1979, but when she did this the economy got hurt badly as anything losing money no longer received government money and then had to close down leaving many unemployed. Cameron undoubtedly want to reduce tax and public spending, but by how much is unknown and I think this is one thing that voters will consider when voting in the elections.
Europe has been an issue dividing the conservatives for a very long term and an issue has to consider very carefully. So far he has just tried to appeal to all the people, such as when he said he would give a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Daniel Finkelstein writes an article which I think best explains Cameron’s European policies. He talks about how he will just do whatever to gain power, such as saying that he will let the country decide on the Lisbon treaty, but deep down he is a Conservative and therefore a Euro-sceptic, and his speech to become leader of the Conservatives was Euro-sceptic and this was the reason he was chosen.
One nation Conservatism is another way Cameron has tried to please his party, showing that he wants a strong party with more democratic views rather than right wing views. One nation Conservatism is about equalling out all social classes with more Tory democratic views rather than old view that the upper class will drag the lower classes up, something never proven to work, normally the lower classes become even lower classed. This will please many conservatives as they just want to be in power and with one nation policies in effect they can steal some votes from the people in the middle as they will feel included. This has upset other Conservatives as now they have to subsidise the nation and therefore will not benefit as much as they would under a more Thatcheristic government.
Liberal policies have upset those who prefer a Thatcher government than Cameron as now the Conservatives are seen as much more liberal. They don’t like the fact that Cameron has now accepted civil partnerships in his party, the first being Alan Duncan, the shadow business secretary. Many of his constituents in Rutland and Melton were delighted for the couple, but other supporters such as Tim Montgomerie were displeased by it and even named the party the “nasty party.”
In conclusion I believe that David Cameron is exactly what the Labour party portrayed him as, a chameleon. He seems to be a Traditional conservative through and through but appeasing the liberals will most likely ensure victory in the next general election. He tries to show us he does the right thing, like cycling to work, but his efforts are in vain now everyone knows that his suit is taken in a car that follows him, therefore his green campaign has been shot down and environmentalists will be unsure whether to vote for him. Another example of his efforts to gain power is his speech saying he would give a referendum on the Lisbon treaty and this gained him control over the Conservatives but now he won’t get the chance to have a referendum as the bill has already been passed. Therefore I think he is superficial to appease everyone but Conservative inside and this will show if elected next year.
