Was "Thatcherism" different from conservatism?

The eleven year period between 1830-41 when the Tory party was not in power was regarded as a period of great change. By the time of their re-election in 1841 the Tory party had changed its name to the Conservatives and adopted much of the ideology we now refer to as conservatism. The next strong Conservative ministry came with the arrival of Benjamin Disreali in 1874. For the first time in its history there was a strong degree of unity under Disreali and this enabled him to act accordingly in reforming Conservative policy. The early years of Disreali's ministry coined the terms "Tory Democracy" and "New Conservatism", as he set about important social reforms to housing, public health, factories, education and trade unions. Disreali hoped that through his social reforms an alliance would be established between the privileged classes and the masses, "... the palace is unsafe if the cottage is unhappy... ".

Although Disreali's ministry was a lot more geared towards the wishes of the working class, who would not receive the right to vote until the1880's, the collapse of the British economy towards the end of the 1870's meant that he was inevitably ousted from office in the 1880's by Gladstone. But the cornerstones of conservatism had been laid and these were to be followed by progressive leaders until the 1960's. This may seem somewhat at odds with other ideologies as conservatism was based on a self interested hierarchy. With the rise of the number of working class who were franchised it may seem odd that a more socialist ideology did not grab more of the popular vote. Conservatism had no grand designs to change the world but a simple pragmatic view of what is best.

Conservatism did survive, perhaps because of strong party unity and a deference to those in authority ie: party leaders, but it was radically shaken up when Mrs. Thatcher came to power in 1979. The phrase "Thatcherism" was coined to describe a new style of Conservative Party thinkers who in fact were children of the "New Right". The New Right had been progressing towards an ideology since the sixties and was not confined to Britain, America had also sown the seeds and they manifested themselves in Reaganomics through out the 1980's. The New Right can be seen as an attack on traditional conservatism, which was seen to be betraying its principles by moving towards collectivism and undermining economic liberty. The New Right was perhaps a backlash to the freedoms gained in the 1960's and a return to conservatism but without its pragmatic or paternalist tenancies.

Thatcherism was not in itself the culmination of New Right thinkers. It was more a mixture of ideologies and a concept of government. Michael Fallon, a Conservative MP said of Mrs. Thatcher "...she is the ultimate socialist..." meaning she had done more to aid the redistribution of wealth than any socialist party would dare to do. Privatisation had much to do with economic liberty, a conservative value, but its redistribution to the masses was on par with Labour's Clause 4 "...the workers shall own the means of production...". The move away from Keynesainism to Monetarism economics was an implication of economic liberalism. Woodrow Wyatt placed Mrs. Thatcher in the same category as the nineteenth century radical liberal John Bright. Her economic policy was based on what Peter Kellner saw as three main concepts namely, the state is a poor provider of services. This was very much alien to the conservative approach of centralisation and control. Second was consumer choice was good which emotively hit home with much appeal and joined the third principle of freedom of contract. These were all clearly liberalist in there approach.

Thatcherism was charged with the fracturing of the post-war political consensus but this is not the whole picture. Both ideologies were, in part, catalyst for change. In fact even the Labour government of 1974-79 had an impact on the decline in consensus politics. It thus seems that a distinction between the ideologies based on this consensus is difficult. The only real plank of the consensus to change was that of foreign policy. The conservatives favouring a commonwealth approach whereas Mrs. Thatcher concentrated on the special relationship with America. Perhaps this was because she found more allies there than in her own party.

Some core concepts of conservatism were kept, law and order and the acceptance of inequality remained on the politic agenda. Mrs. Thatcher had managed to mix three of the main political ideologies using what she saw as the best of all of them. She would however never class herself as anything but Conservative. Ted Heath on the other hand spoke of her time in office as "...a Conservative aberration..." and wanted a return to traditional pragmatic balance which was abandoned in favour of radicalism. It seems clear that conservatism was not Mrs. Thatchers main overriding ideology nor is Thatcherism a distinct ideology of its own. She was in favour of radical change, even describing herself as a revolutionary. Her desire to promote an enterprise culture moreover smacks a little of social engineering which traditional conservatism condemns as an unachievable socialist fallacy.

Thatcherite ideology must however be viewed separately from Thatcherite reality because in reality only a proportion of its core concepts were ever achieved. This is because only in the first years in office was her hold on the party strong enough to push through such measures. Thatcherism was not the predominant ideology in the party, there were still many traditional conservative thinkers but they tolerated Thatcherism because it was popular. Elections were won on this bandwagon. The idea that the state was not best placed to control the country was never born out, many quangos still remain to this day. The individualist approach to the welfare state was however adopted by the party which can be seen as not so much an embracement of Thatcherism but a return to paternal welfare toryism, the idea that the state must have some safety net but not at all costs. The enterprise culture was seen as an acceptance of inequality but modern Conservatives have had to disassociate themselves with Thatcherism to an extent that some of the concepts of both ideologies have had to be left on the backburner.

It can therefore be said that Thatcherism is no new ideology but not distinct with any other ideology we associate with the British people. It stole from Liberalism and had traces of Socialism mixed in. In can also be said that Thatcherism cannot be compared to any other ideology simply because it was a way of controlling government and not a distinct ideology. Although the same analogy is partly true of conservatism insofar as all the core concepts are indefinable. This is to say that, for example, the belief in a hierarchy and authority is not uncommon to most ideologies to some extent. The test for any ideology must be whether it survives in its present form. Although John Major's victory in the leadership contest to succeed Mrs. Thatcher ensured that there would be substantial continuity with the policies of the Thatcher government, it seems probable that the events of November 1990 marked the final end of Thatcherism. John Major's initial cabinet appointments, and his willingness to call himself a "...social liberal..." suggests that the Conservative party would move steadily away from Thatcherism under his leadership. The radical thrust of the Thatcherite project is unlikely to be renewed, this suggests that Thatcherism was more personalities than policy. The new watchwords of the Conservative is a return to consolidation, co-operation and consensus. This is yet to happen, the growth of Majorism has not come home to roost.

Bibliography

Conservatism (1988) Bruce Coleman, Edward Arnold Publishing.

Breaking the Nation (1985) Tony Manwaring, Pluto Press.

Mrs. Thatcher's Case Book (1987) Terry Garrison, St. Edmundsbury Press.

Political Ideologies (1984) Robert Eccleshall, Hutchinson.

Britian in Decline (1981) Andrew Gamble, MacMillan.

A Balance of Power (1986) Jim Prior, Hutchinson.

Peter Kellner (15th Feb 1988) The Independent.