The Main Features of British Politics - Assignment Example

Introduction to British Politics: What are the main features of British conservatism, and how have these features changed from conservative leader toconservative leader? Given that the Conservative Party is the oldest political establishment in Britain, a study of its history and evolution will reflect broader socio-economic changes. From the earliest days of parliamentary democracy in Britain to the current modern polity, the Conservative Party has withstood many upheavals and challenges. This essay attempts to identity the main features of British conservatism by way of studying its primary political representative that is the Conservative Party, the implication being that not all policies of the Conservative Party have been consistent with the theme of British conservatism and vice versa. Conservatives have never been known to support universal health care. The reluctance of the Conservative party to support an efficient and public funded healthcare system remains one of its major criticisms. Conservatism in Britain is also associated with staunch nationalism and the concept of “one-nation”. The Tory party’s attempts to rejuvenate its electoral prospects have taken the form of party brochures and propaganda literature. The “Renewing One Nation” campaign under the leadership of Stanley Kalms may not have persuaded the electorate, but it nevertheless brought to light the other recurrent theme of Conservative ideology in Britain – that of its links with Christian organizations. Even if official Conservative rhetoric makes mention of the virtues of separating State and Church, it is one of the open secrets in British polity that the Conservative Party patronizes Christian faith and at elections expects a return favour. This explains why the Tories have failed to win the trust of the growing numbers of religious and ethnic minorities in the country (Coxall & Robins, 2003). Yet, in spite of the apparent rigidity in Conservative ideology, the party has shown some flexibility at crucial junctures in the nation’s history. While the “one nation” policy and its attendant policies of social reform and limited economic planning were significant factors in the Tories’ consistent electoral success for most part of the twentieth century, the party’s policy framework had also shown signs of malleability: “When Winston Churchill lost power in 1945, he quickly called on people such as Rab Butler to devise an inclusive, socially reformist postwar policy agenda. The result was a drastically reduced Labour majority in 1950 and a Tory election victory in 1951. In the two subsequent elections, the Conservatives, led by men who believed in the partys national responsibility and who abhorred the right-wing narrow-mindedness of some of the partys activists, increased their share of the vote to margins that Margaret Thatcher would only be able to dream of.” (Porter, 1999) In assessing Britains performance in the decade of Conservative party rule in the 1950s, two prominent themes emerge as the backbone of British identity. The first is a symbolic one, that of the triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945. While Britain’s days of imperial glory had come to an end by then, it had other prospects to look forward to, namely the prosperity and standard of living of its people. During the 1950s and early 1960s, the British people saw a “sustained improvement in welfare provision, even after Labour gave way to the Conservatives in 1951. So, too, did the rising level of personal prosperity culminating in a `great leap forward into affluence at the end of the 1950s.” This is all the more commendable when seen in light of the fact that social welfare is not usually associated with British Conservatism. Indeed the Tory government in the 1950s had admirably “balanced the often conflicting priorities of `welfare and `greatness” (Porter, 1999). But some commentators are of the view that in the trade-off between ‘welfare’ and ‘greatness’, it was the former that had emerged the stronger. In other words, “if welfare, broadly defined, was prioritised, was it really such an undesirable outcome? Britain may have lost an empire but there are many who would ask whether this was a morally defensible or economically advantageous arrangement anyway” (Clarke, 2004). The 13 years of Conservative party rule from 1951 to 1964 are crucial to any assessment of the nation past the Second World War period. For Tory governments of this period, headed first by Winston Churchill and later by Eden, Macmillan and Home, the primary issue was to cope with the reduced stature of Britain in the new global order to go with the rising expectations of Britons at home “as people began to regard welfare as a right and affluence as a reasonable expectation. In this period `the art of the possible, as politics was once described, required that constant attention be given to the delicate balance between external priorities (greatness) and internal priorities (welfare)” (Clarke, 2004). This brings us to the most controversial of Tory leaders in the person of Margaret Thatcher. While she carries the distinction of being the party’s longest serving Prime Minister, she also earned the party disrepute and growing unpopularity – something that confronts the party even today. Even two decades after retirement from politics and party leadership, Margaret Thatcher is still being blamed for the Conservatives’ hiatus from power since 1997. The party has never seen three consecutive defeats in parliamentary elections as it did since 1997. Ideally, such a debacle should have led to a revamp similar to the one conducted by Rab Butler after the Second World War. But Thatcher had not only altered the common pattern of Tory governments by pursuing a new right-wing policy framework, she had also distorted the nature and image of Conservative party leadership. To expound further, “for most of the 20th century, Conservative leaders were successful because, on the whole, they refused to place themselves at the mercy of their activists. Churchill, Eden and Macmillan were merely the most prominent leaders who felt uneasy with Tory activists, and instead saw their role as being to represent the aspirations and needs of the vast swathe of public opinion outside the party. This led to electoral success, and that, in turn, placated the activists. Thatcher was unusual in that she drew her inspiration from the deepest wells of Conservative activism. She carried the same, insular ideological baggage, and viewed the world through the same prism, as her constituency followers.” (Kampfner, 2003) As a result, the Tories’ activists found their ideal leader in Margaret Thatcher. Following Thatcher, her successors have not been able to pose any meaningful challenge to the right-wing’s stranglehold on policy. More worryingly, the exercise of choosing candidates for parliamentary seats, as a result of becoming an entirely local affair, “has led to a much more ideological brand of MP”. Hence, under the reign of Margaret Thatcher, the liberal elements in the party leadership had been overwhelmed by the ultra-conservative grass roots supporters (Kampfner, 2003). The cornerstone of Margaret Thatchers leadership was not its compassion towards British citizens, but rather a ruthless approach to what she deemed as progress. Thatcher, more than any other leader of her party, was the most vocal in promoting capitalism and its attendant privatization. The merit of such dogmatic approach to governance is debatable but she nevertheless forced many changes in the name of progress. But Thatcher’s iron-fisted efforts were to leave the Conservative party and its political philosophy a legacy of disrepute. In other words, it ended up being a traumatic process “that cost her the leadership and nearly destroyed her party. No Conservative leader after her has been able to slow the partys decline into a rancorous rabble. If John Major was unable to nudge it back into the mainstream, William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith fared no better in their attempts to lead it from the right” (Coxall & Robins, 2003). With ties to tradition broken in this way, the party had become impossible to manage. A little later in the party’s history, the rise and fall of William Hague demonstrates the sort of weak leadership the party has come to be associated with in recent years. Hague, who showed a lot of promise and potential, to go along with his pleasant and amiable personality, took the Tory party into deeper chaos with his infamous speech about “a foreign land”, further alienating the party from racial minorities in Britain. Coming at a critical time as it did, the speech was even condemned by the parties own backbenchers. For example, “The dismal publicity -- and the predictable alienation of a wide band of potential voters -provokes openly racist comments from an utterly undistinguished backbencher. In any well-ordered party, such comments would have occasioned immediate expulsion, isolating him as an odd lunatic amid those who hold predominantly sensible, moderate opinions. Instead, his comments add credence to the view that this is a nasty party wildly out of touch with anything other than a base of bigots”. (The Birmingham Post, October 5, 2006) British conservatism is in crisis presently. Having dominated the political scene for the most part of the twentieth century, the Conservative Party finds itself out of favour with the general public as the first decade of the next century comes to a close. Some political analysts have pointed out how the continuing success of the New Labour is more a reflection of Conservatives’ decline as opposed to substantial progress made under the leadership of Tony Blair. Presently under the leadership of David Cameron, the Conservative party is nursing its wounds as it continues to serve in opposition benches in parliament. A significant contributing factor to this state of affairs is the constantly changing and evolving nature of the British psyche and the Tories’ inability to keep pace with it. With Britain’s immigrant population at its highest, whose constituents bring with them their unique cultural and ethnic sensibilities and values, the Conservative Party ideology of old is found obsolete (The Daily Mail, January 2, 2006). While some members of the Tory party are aware of this reality and are willing to ease restrictions on immigration and issues of cultural assimilation, most others are still stuck in the past and unwilling to break out of their conservative mindset, as the following passage suggests: “Slowly but surely, a new type of Tory party member can be discerned, people more at home in modern, cosmopolitan, urban Britain. But any public gathering of the membership, most recently in Blackpool, still provides a preponderance of elderly people comfortable with their prejudices. The concerns and priorities of many of these people are directly contrary to those of the floating voter.” (The Daily Mail, January 2, 2006) In many ways, its new leader David Cameron’s position on various recurrent issues is symptomatic of the Tory party’s lack of strong conviction. Contrary to the conventional stance of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, in an attempt to ape the successful strategy of Tony Blair had aired sympathetic views on global warming, income disparities, business regulation, leniency towards immigrants, and has even hinted that he would raising taxes if elected. These positions are further left to the Tony Blair agenda, mimicking the radical wing of the Labour party as opposed to representing the loyal party membership base. While such a radical re-alignment might fetch more votes for the Tories, it has taken the party further away from Conservatism. Not only is it such a break away from Thatcherism, but David Cameron might eventually confine to history books the very notion of British Conservatism (The Birmingham Post, October 5, 2006). References: Bold, Refreshing - but What about Conservat-ISM? as the Tory Leader Claims Hes Opposed to All Ideological Isms. (2006, January 2). The Daily Mail (London, England), p. 14. Camerons Tory Line with Traditional Twist; in His First Party Conference Speech as Tory Leader, David Cameron Unveiled His Vision of Modern Compassionate Conservatism - by Calling on Tradition, Says Political Editor Jonathan Walker. (2006, October 5). The Birmingham Post (England), p. 5. Clarke, P. Hope and Glory: Britain 1900-2000 (London: Penguin, 2004) Goodlad, G., (2002). Corn, Catholics and the Constitution: The Tory Crisis of 1827-30 Graham Goodlad Considers the Reasons for the Disintegration of the Early Nineteenth-Century Tory Party, Which Had Dominated British Politics for More Than Four Decades. 4+. Kampfner, J. (2003, November 3). Doomed from the Start: Unlike Labour, the Tories Democratised Their Party before They Modernised It. So MPs Were Saddled with a Leader They Never Wanted. New Statesman, 132, 8+. B. Coxall and L. Robins, Contemporary British Politics (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003 Platell, A. (2005, December 12). The Edge: When It Comes to Removing the Stain of Nastiness from the Tory Party There Is, as Blair Might Say, a Lot Done, a Lot Left to Do. New Statesman, 134, 63. Retrieved February 9, 2009, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5014421440 Porter, D. (1999). Juggling with Welfare and Greatness: Britain under the Tories, 1951-64. 28. Read More