The Conservative party

Question 1

what is conservatism

Answer 1

loose ideology favouring a pragmatic approach to dealing with problems whilst while seeking to preserve the status quo. They believed in gradual improvements founded on experience and existing institutions

Question 2

what are the origins of conservatism?

Answer 2

• emerged from the tory party in the 1830s with many dating its birth to Robert Peel’s Tamworth manifesto in 1834
• in the 20th century, the party was in office (either alone or in coalition) for a total of 67 years with two extended periods in office
• 1951-1964 (Churchill, Anthony Eden,Macmillian, Alec Douglas home)
• 1979 - 97 Thatcher/John Major

Question 3

explore one nation conservatism

Answer 3

-a key characteristic of one nation conservatism - paternalist conservatism: where power and authority are held centrally but the state acts benevolently and cares for the neediest.
- they favoured pluralism and social inclusion
- they were committed to gradual change - ‘evolution’ not ‘revolution’
- a keynesian mixed economy - with significant state intervention where necessary
- support for a welfare state
- internationalism and increasing European integration

Acts created:
- great reform act of 1832 - widened the franchise by enabling 1 in five adult men the vote (middle class men)
- great reform act 1987 which enabled the working class man to vote
- employers and workmen act 1875 which made both sides of the industry equal before the law and the breach of contract became a civil offence rather than criminal
- factory act 1974 which reduces the working hours of men and women to ten hours on a weekday and 6 hours on saturday

Question 4

explore Thatcherism

Answer 4

• late 1970s and 80s saw a new form of liberal or libertarian conservatism on both sides of the atlantic dubbed the ‘new right’
• this movement combined monetarism: ‘an economic theory which advocates controlling the money supply as a means of keeping inflation in check’
• free market economics and deregulation with a more conservative approach to the sphere of social policy
• i.e support for the traditional family unit and more traditional views on sexual orientation.
• Thatcher/ Regan were key figures in this movement

Question 5

Futher explore thatcherism

Answer 5

• it marked the death of the post war consensus and the rise of a more adversarial politics
• they favoured the importance of the individual over the needs of society
• led to deregulation in the field of business
• privatisation of publicly owned industries
• statutory limits on the power of trade unions
• smaller state and more limited state interventions
• greater emphasis on national sovereignty
• more limited welfare provision
• housing act 1980 - act of parliament passed by parliament in the UK which gave five million house tenants in England and Wales to buy their house from local authority
• privatisations of previously nationalised industries i.e British airways (1987) national express (1988) enterprise oil (1984)
• 1980 employment act outlawed ‘secondary action’ for trade unions ‘secondary action’ or sympathy strikes was the idea of one set of workers coming out on strike to support another

Question 6

what is thatcherism?

Answer 6

an ideological approach combining a free market/neo-liberal economic policy with a more orthodox conservative social policy

Question 7

explore the conservative party under Cameron

Answer 7

• some dubbed Cameron’s conservatives as the ‘new tories’ or as Cameron said ‘liberal conservatives’
• Richard Kelly argued Cameron’s labour = ‘flagrant capitulation to new labour, subtle continuation of Thatcherism and ‘shamless opportunitism’
• Cameron’s party struggled due to the coalition to deliver on the very few explicit promises they had made to the run up in the 2010 general election
• he intended to create a traditionally liberal position on the environment and social welfare but pursue a thatcherite agenda of ‘rolling back the frontiers of the state’
  Acts created:

introduced the marriage act 2013 which enabled couples of the same sex to be legally wed

Introduction of universal credit in 2013 - encourages people on benefits to work/ increase their hours by making sure work pays, reduce the amount of people who are still at work but live in poverty

Question 8

explore conservatism under May

Answer 8

• economically May planned to end austerity (restraint/strictness) and focus on the issues of ‘just about managing’
• there was commitment to raise the personal tax allowance
• also a policy to means-test winter fuel allowances and take into account people’s assets (notably houses) when determining the costs they would need to pay elderly care
• manifesto planned to remove the triple lock on pensions which raised concerns for elderly voters
• In education, she planned to allow for the reintroduction of grammar schools
• she also had plans to replace free school lunches with free school breakfast
• £20 billion increase in funding to the NHS
• while drafting the 2017 conservative party manifesto May had wished social care reform be a priority manifesto included:
• raise the threshold for free care from £23,000 to £100,000

Question 9

name the policies included in the 2015 manifesto

Answer 9

raise personal tax allowance to 12,500 and 40% tax threshold to 50%
- legislate to keep people working 30 hours on minimum wage out of income tax
- aim to keep annual net migration in tens of thousands, limite EU migrants access to benefits and social housing
- a comprehensive strategy to defeat the Islamic state