Policy reversals and contemporary Conservatism

Abstract

Mr Heath’s policy reversals and the loss of office after only three and a half years caused a major upheaval in the Conservative Party. Mr Heath himself, when stripped of the Prime Ministerial title by which he dominated his Party, was removed as Conservative Party Leader less than a year after the February 1974 Election defeat. Once Mr Heath was no longer Prime Minister the Conservative Party, particularly the back bench MPs, could strike back without fear of disloyalty or ‘rocking the boat’. His successor, Mrs Thatcher, began the process of returning the Party to policies in most cases similar to those of the ‘Quiet Revolution’. Interven-tionism and statutory incomes policy were again eschewed. Indeed, Mrs Thatcher publicly warned that statutory pay policy put the state into confrontation with major sectional interests in society and hence should be avoided, a view consistent with the argument that the interventionist policies of the Conservative Left, not the non-interventionism of the Right, are more likely to lead to social discord. Furthermore it may be argued, with the benefit of hindsight, that Mrs Thatcher’s first two and a half years of monetarist political economy have seen a decrease in numbers of working days lost to strikes, which compares favourably with Mr Heath’s overall record. Similarly, Mrs Thatcher’s Government has avoided the blind alley of statutory incomes policy that caused the precipitous downfall of Mr Heath’s Government. In the context of such a comparison is it fair, therefore, to regard Mr Heath’s policies as essentially unconservative, or alien to post-war Conservative philosophy?

‘…one of the abiding assets of the Conservative Party is its flexibility — it can absorb wide discrepancy of views among its members and still remain a coherent and unified entity.’

Lord Butler, The Art of the Possible Hamish Hamilton, 1971