The conservative dialectic of Margaret Thatcher’s first term
The conservative dialectic of Margaret Thatcher’s first term
The Thatcher government can fairly be credited with establishing free market liberalism as an important reference point for all serious British politicians, but this narrative focuses on struggle within that government between the Thatcherites and their opponents within. In her first term, the dragon Thatcher vanquished these none-too-effective St Georges, picking them off or marginalising them one by one, taking conservatism “off the political agenda” and giving herself free rein in her second and third terms. This narrative is based on two assumptions which I will challenge: first, that conservatives must have been opposed to the Thatcher government’s programme during its first term; second, that, although Thatcher’s radicalism took a while to be cranked up, it was fully in control by the second term. Against these assumptions, I will try to establish that (a) although there was certainly a conservative challenge, there was little in that first term that was intrinsically opposed to conservative thinking properly understood, and (b) a conservative who was happy with the rough direction of travel in 1979-83 could also have found common ground in the second term, 1983-7. The pivotal moment where the conservatives lost their influence in the Conservative Party was not 1975 or 1979, but rather some time round about 1986
conservatism, thatcherism, conservative party, liberalism, free markets, hayek, friedman, monetarism
9781441106148
O'Hara, Kieron
0a64a4b1-efb5-45d1-a4c2-77783f18f0c4
O'Hara, Kieron
0a64a4b1-efb5-45d1-a4c2-77783f18f0c4
O'Hara, Kieron
(2013)
The conservative dialectic of Margaret Thatcher’s first term.
In,
Hart, Bradley W. and Carr, Richard
(eds.)
The Foundations of the British Conservative Party.
London, GB.
Continuum.
(In Press)
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Book Section
Abstract
The Thatcher government can fairly be credited with establishing free market liberalism as an important reference point for all serious British politicians, but this narrative focuses on struggle within that government between the Thatcherites and their opponents within. In her first term, the dragon Thatcher vanquished these none-too-effective St Georges, picking them off or marginalising them one by one, taking conservatism “off the political agenda” and giving herself free rein in her second and third terms. This narrative is based on two assumptions which I will challenge: first, that conservatives must have been opposed to the Thatcher government’s programme during its first term; second, that, although Thatcher’s radicalism took a while to be cranked up, it was fully in control by the second term. Against these assumptions, I will try to establish that (a) although there was certainly a conservative challenge, there was little in that first term that was intrinsically opposed to conservative thinking properly understood, and (b) a conservative who was happy with the rough direction of travel in 1979-83 could also have found common ground in the second term, 1983-7. The pivotal moment where the conservatives lost their influence in the Conservative Party was not 1975 or 1979, but rather some time round about 1986
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Accepted/In Press date: 2013
Keywords:
conservatism, thatcherism, conservative party, liberalism, free markets, hayek, friedman, monetarism
Organisations:
Web & Internet Science
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 342859
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/342859
ISBN: 9781441106148
PURE UUID: a314c7f9-93c0-4701-af81-61d99281a280
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Date deposited: 19 Sep 2012 08:48
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:09
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Contributors
Editor:
Bradley W. Hart
Editor:
Richard Carr
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