The Conservative Party And Social Policy

With the Conservative Party breaking new ground in forming a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, this book examines the development and content of the Conservatives' approaches to social policy and how they inform the Coalition's policies. Chapters cover the development of Conservative Party social policy and specific policy areas. The book will be of interest to academics, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and everyone with an interest in the Conservative Party and the Coalition government's social policies.

This book is concerned with home affairs or social policy in the British system - in particular in education, health, housing, social security and aspects of the Home Office's work. It handles the subject in terms of what the Conservative Party thought and did about it from 1939 to 1988.

Has the modern Conservative Party developed a distinctive approach to the post-war welfare state? In exploring this question, this accessible book takes an authoritative look at Conservative Party policy and practice in the modern era. The book takes as its main starting point the progressive One Nation Conservative (1950-64) perspective, which endeavoured to embrace those features of the welfare state deemed compatible with the party’s underlying 'philosophy'. Attention then shifts to the neo-liberal Conservatives (1974-97), who sought to reverse the forward march of the welfare state on the grounds of its 'harmful’ economic and social effects. Finally, David Cameron’s (2005-present day) 'progressive’ neo-liberal Conservative welfare state strategy is put under the spotlight. The book’s time-defined content and broad historical thread make it a valuable resource for academics and students in social policy and politics as well as social history.

In May 2015, general elections in the United Kingdom shocked the world as a new Conservative Government was voted into power, ending five years of Coalition governance. Both a response to the actions of the Coalition Government and a reflection on the implications of actions taken during the first hundred days of the new Conservative Government, this book could not be more timely in its assessment of the current and future states of UK social policies. The first book to consider Coalition social policy in its entirety, it not only reviews and evaluates the extent of change under the Coalition--looking at the impact of factors like austerity measures on social policies and politics more broadly--but also draws out what the Coalition years will mean for the incoming government, outlining both the challenges and opportunities of its legacy.

This book addresses how the Conservative Party has re-focused its interest in social policy. Analysing to what extent the Conservatives have changed within this particular policy sphere, the book explores various theoretical, social, political, and electoral dimensions of the subject matter.

Focusing on the policy approaches of Conservative governments since 2015, this book examines key social policy areas including education, health, housing, employment, children and young people, and more. Respected social policy researchers explore the degree to which the positions and policies of recent Conservative governments have differed from the previous Coalition government (2010–15). They consider the extent to which austerity has continued and the influence of other policy emphases, such as a ‘levelling up’ agenda. Reflecting on the rapid changes of Prime Minister, they compare the themes of the Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak administrations, critically examine the impacts of the external shocks of Brexit and COVID-19, and the changing patterns of public expenditure.

A sociological history of the development and evolution of the political ideas and policies influencing the provision of social welfare in modern western society. The British experience of the welfare state is compared and contrasted with its counterparts in the USA and Sweden.