Theresa May: One Nation or Thatcherite

Question 1

what does Theresa May define her party as?

Answer 1

Theresa May, like her predecessor David Cameron, often speaks of herself and her party as a one-nation conservative

however, there are debates over whether her Conservative Party is actually more Thatcherite than it is one-nation

Question 2

arguments suggesting that Theresa May’s party is more one nation than Thatcherite

Answer 2

her economic policies are far more interventionist than Thatcherism

her social policy and rhetoric represent a sharp break from the image of the ‘nasty party’ under Thatcher

(suggests that her Conservative Party is not Thatcherite)

Question 3

arguments suggesting that Theresa May’s party is more Thatcherite than one nation

Answer 3

there are still numerous Thatcherite measures evident in her economic policy

her rhetoric about helping the disadvantaged in society appears to translate more into words than real action

her foreign policy signals a return to Thatcher’s ‘nasty party’

(perhaps indicating that her party is more Thatcherite than first appears)

Question 4

conclusion

Answer 4

it seems to be clear that Theresa May’s Conservative Party is rather Thatcherite, despite her one-nation rhetoric

Question 5

how is Theresa May’s economic policy not Thatcherite, but actually more one nation: Department of Industrial Strategy

Answer 5

her economic policy represents a notable shift away from Thatcher’s determination to roll back the state

May appeared to be signally a renewed era of government interventionism in economic matters by creating a new Department of Industrial Strategy

Question 6

how is Theresa May’s economic policy not Thatcherite, but actually more one nation: quote

Answer 6

she wrote in the Telegraph in 2017 that those “just getting by don’t need a government that will get out of the way” but rather an “active government” willing to “step up” and “fix broken markets”

this belief that the government should intervene to solve market failures and tackle the shortcomings of the free market is significantly more Keynesian than Thatcher deemed acceptable

suggests a decisive rejection of the Thatcherite laissez faire orthodoxy which upheld the belief that the economy works best when the government leaves it be

Question 7

how is Theresa May’s economic policy not Thatcherite, but actually more one nation: Productivity Investment Fund

Answer 7

Theresa May’s Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, stated that the government was ditching Cameron’s commitment to eliminate the budget deficit by 2020

they instead announced new public spending measures in the form of a £23 billion Productivity Investment Fund

this all demonstrates that her philosophy is undoubtedly more interventionist than Thatcher’s, suggesting that her Conservative Party is not Thatcherite

Question 8

how is Theresa May’s economic policy still Thatcherite rather than one nation: cuts to public spending

Answer 8

when May’s economic policy is examined beyond the surface level, and it soon becomes apparent that the idea that May’s Conservative Party represents a sharp turn away from Thatcher’s austere economic policy is not entirely accurate

drastic cuts to public spending, particularly cuts to welfare, continued under her government, with Hammond announcing a new cap on government welfare spending

Question 9

how is Theresa May’s economic policy still Thatcherite rather than one nation: taxation

Answer 9

further Thatcherite measures are evident in several new tax cuts, including a promise to slash £6.7 billion from business rates and to reduce corporation tax from 20% to 17%

all of this appears to be moving in the opposite direction from the traditional one-nation view of taxing the wealthy and privileged to fund quality public services for the poorer in society

consequently, Theresa May’s Conservative Party can be argued to be Thatcherite in practice

Question 10

how is Theresa May’s social policy more one nation and less Thatcherite: 2002 speech

Answer 10

Theresa May’s social policy is considerably more progressive and inclusive than Thatcher’s, suggesting that her Conservative Party is actually more one-nation conservative than Thatcherite

in fact, even as early as 2002 May has been taking steps to distance the party from the ‘nasty party’ image that had emerged during Thatcher’s premiership

in her famous 2002 speech as Conservative chairman, she argued that the party had lost touch with ordinary people and had come to be seen as representing a privileged and selfish elite with outdated reactionary views, calling for a total rebranding of the party

Question 11

how is Theresa May’s social policy more one nation and less Thatcherite: same-sex marriage

Answer 11

she has also accepted same-sex marriage – a far cry from Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which banned the “promotion” and teaching of homosexuality as “acceptable” in schools

Question 12

how is Theresa May’s social policy more one nation and less Thatcherite: police brutality

Answer 12

May has since vowed to take on the perceived impunity of the police force and demanded that issues such as police brutality, racialised use of stop and search powers and unauthorised surveillance are tackled

Question 13

how is Theresa May’s social policy more one nation and less Thatcherite: enquiries

Answer 13

she set up enquiries into the Hillsborough disaster, the illegal surveillance of the Lawrence family (whose teenage son had been killed in a racist murder which the police failed to investigate properly) as well as black deaths in police custody

Question 14

how is Theresa May’s social policy more one nation and less Thatcherite: maiden speech

Answer 14

as prime minister she has consistently sought to bolster this hard-won image as the defender of the downtrodden

her maiden-speech outside Downing Street spoke of the “burning injustices” faced by the poor, the black community, the working-class and women and she vowed to govern in the interests not of the “privileged few” but of all those who are “just about managing”

Question 15

how is Theresa May’s social policy more Thatcherite than one nation: State of the Nation Report

Answer 15

this ‘progressive’ rhetoric seems to translate into words rather than actions and firm commitments

she does not seem to have kept her 2016 pledge to tackle the ‘burning injustice’ of social stagnation and improve social mobility

the latest State of the Nation Report, published by the Social Mobility Commission, tracked the changes in improved social opportunities between 2014 and the present day

it concluded that inequality is “now entrenched from birth to work”, with social mobility stagnating during the period “at virtually all life stages”

Question 16

how is Theresa May’s social policy more Thatcherite than one nation: not entirely committed

Answer 16

it appears that much of the momentum for tackling social injustice was lost when May lost the Conservative majority at the 2017 election

challenge the idea that May’s party is truly committed to distancing itself from Thatcher’s ‘nasty party’ and indicates that her party may still be Thatcherite rather than the ‘compassionate conservatism’ that many claim

Question 17

how is Theresa May’s foreign policy still reminiscent of Thatcher’s nasty party rather than being one nation: Mediterranean migrants

Answer 17

Theresa May’s foreign policy also suggests that her party is still rather Thatcherite

even as Home Secretary, there were elements of the old ‘nasty party’ in her policies

for example, in 2014, the Italian Navy ended the highly successful search and rescue operation which had rescued over 150,000 migrants in the Mediterranean under pressure from the British government

the British position was that saving migrants only encourages them to flee, while leaving them to drown may act as a deterrent to others seeking a new life in Europe

Theresa May’s party does not seem to have distanced itself enough from Thatcher’s conservatism to be considered a break from Thatcherism altogether

Question 18

how is Theresa May’s foreign policy still reminiscent of Thatcher’s nasty party rather than being one nation: GDP

Answer 18

this lack of compassion has also been evident in a number of other international policy announcements made since she came to office

in 2016, it was announced that the government’s commitment to meet the UN’s goal of contributing at least 0.7% of GDP to international development programmes was to be watered down following a right-wing press campaign vilifying such programmes as a waste of money

Question 19

how is Theresa May’s foreign policy still reminiscent of Thatcher’s nasty party rather than being one nation: 2017

Answer 19

then, in 2017, an enquiry into human rights abuses by British soldiers in Iraq was closed down, with hundreds of cases still unheard

in the same year, May’s government announced that it was no longer willing to take in the 3000 unaccompanied child refugees it had promised to accept only the previous year