The Political Thought Of The Conservative Party Since 1945

The Conservative Party is usually seen as being non-ideological. This book is the first comprehensive treatment of the political thought of the Conservative Party examining the major elements of Conservative thinking since 1945, cross-cutting thematic issues and commentaries from leading politicians and journalists. The book is essential for anyone interested in the history and future of the Party.

***Winner of the Political Studies Association Conservatism Studies Group prize 2020*** This book provides a detailed analysis of the evolution of the Conservative Right in Great Britain since 1945. It first explores the movement’s core ideas and highlights points of tension between its different strands. The book then proceeds with a thematically structured discussion. The Conservative Right’s views on the decline and fall of the British Empire, immigration control, European integration, the British constitution, the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom, Britain’s economy, the welfare state, and social morality and social change are all explored. In the concluding chapter, the author evaluates the extent to which the Conservative Right has succeeded in its core objectives since 1945 and addresses how it can best respond to a contemporary Britain in which it instinctively feels uncomfortable. The book is based on extensive elite interviews and archival research and will be of interest to anyone who seeks to place the contemporary Conservative Right in a greater historical context.

Michael Oakshott described conservatism as a non-ideological preference for the familiar, tried, actual, limited, near, sufficient, convenient and present. Historically, conservatives have been associated with attempts to sustain social harmony between classes and groups within an organic, hierarchical order grounded in collective history and cultural values. Yet, in recent decades, conservatism throughout the English-speaking world has been associated with radical social and economic policy, often championing free-market models which substitute the free movement of labour and forms of competition and social mobility for organic hierarchy and noblesse oblige. The radical changes associated with such policies call into question the extent to which contemporary conservatism is conservative, rather than ideological. This book seeks to explore contemporary conservative political thought with regard to such topics as, ‘One Nation’ politics and Big Society, sovereignty, multiculturalism and international blocs, paternalism and negative liberty with regard to narcotics, pornography and education, regional and international development, and public faith, establishment and religious diversity. This book will be published as a special issue of Global Discourse.

The election of the most left-wing Labour Party Leader since 1945, followed by the Party's third consecutive general election defeat and the ongoing cultural divisions around Brexit present an ideal opportunity for a thorough re-evaluation of the state of the Party within its broader ideological and historical context. This second edition of this highly respected book analyses the current developments and places them in their historical setting through a clear three-part framework of Ideological Positions, Struggles and Commentaries. Thoroughly updated and featuring contributions by leading academics and politicians, it continues to represent one of the most ground-breaking and thorough analyses of Labour's political thought in a generation and will be of key interest to scholars, students and observers of British Politics, British History, Party Politics, and the Labour Party.

The Conservatives since 1945 is about how and why parties in general, and the Conservative Party in particular, make changes to the face they present to the electorate, the way they organize themselves, and the policies they come up with. This is an in-depth but comprehensive study based on original archival sources.

This book outlines and evaluates the political thought of the Conservative Party through a detailed examination of its principal thinkers from Harold Macmillan to the present. Traditionally, the Conservative Party has been regarded as a vote-gathering machine rather than a vehicle for ideas. This book redresses the balance through a series of biographical essays examining the thought of those who have contributed most to the development of ideas within the party. The chapters benefit from archival research and interviews with leading Conservatives. The recent revival of Conservative fortunes makes the book particularly timely. The book begins with an introductory chapter explaining the role of ideology in the Conservative Party. It then traces the political thought of the Conservative Party through its principal theorists since the 1930s. These are Harold Macmillan, R. A. Butler, Quintin Hogg, Enoch Powell, Angus Maude, Keith Joseph, the ‘traditionalists’ (Maurice Cowling, T. E. ‘Peter’ Utley, Peregrine Worsthorne, Shirley Letwin and Roger Scruton), Ian Gilmour, John Redwood and David Willetts. The book concludes with an overall assessment of the political thought of the Conservative Party and the relevance of past debates for contemporary Conservatism. The book will be of considerable interest to academics and non-academics alike; for those who have a special interest in the Conservative Party but also for any student of contemporary British Politics.

Defence of inequality has always been a core principle of the Conservative Party in Great Britain. Yet the Conservatives have enjoyed great electoral success in a British society marked by widespread inequalities of wealth and income. Peter Dorey here examines the intellectual and political arguments which Conservatives use to justify inequality. He also considers debates between Conservatives over how much inequality is desirable or acceptable. Should inequality be unlimited, in order to promote liberty, incentives and rewards? Or should inequality be kept within certain bounds to prevent social breakdown and political upheaval? Finally, he examines why some less prosperous sections of British society have nonetheless supported the Conservatives instead of political parties promoting equality. This book will be an important resource for students and commentators of contemporary British politics.

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.