Thatcherism
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Thatcherism is the system of political thought attributed to the governments of Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. Thatcher was unusual in late twentieth century British politics in being a highly ideological leader —she once slammed a copy of Friedrich Hayek's The Constitution of Liberty down on the dispatch box in the House of Commons, proclaiming solemnly: "This is what I believe."
Overview
"Thatcherism" is characterised by a free market economy, monetarist economic policy, privatisation of state-owned industries, low direct taxation but conversely higher indirect taxation, opposition to trade unions, nationalism, centralism, as well as checks on the size of the Welfare State and local government. "Thatcherism" may be compared with Reaganomics, Rogernomics and Ruthanasia. She was deeply in favour of individualism rather than collectivism, with a mantra for self-help.Thinkers closely associated with Thatcherism include Keith Joseph, Enoch Powell, Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. In an interview with Simon Heffer in 1996 Mrs. Thatcher claimed that the two greatest influences on her as Conservative leader had been Joseph and Powell, "both of them very great men".Simon Heffer, Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell (Phoenix, 1999), p. 958.
Friedman once claimed in an interview: "The thing that people do not recognise is that Margaret Thatcher is not in terms of belief a Tory. She is a nineteenth-century Liberal." The Observer, 29 September, 1982 Mrs. Thatcher believed in economic liberalism and claimed in 1983 that "We have a duty to make sure that every penny piece we raise in taxation is spent wisely and well. For it is our party which is dedicated to good housekeeping—indeed, I would not mind betting that if Mr. Gladstone were alive today he would apply to join the Conservative Party".[Speech to Conservative Party Conference (14 October, 1983)] In the 1996 Keith Joseph memorial lecture Mrs. Thatcher argued that "The kind of Conservatism which he and I...favoured would be best described as "liberal", in the old-fashioned sense. And I mean the liberalism of Mr. Gladstone not of the latter day collectivists".[Keith Joseph Memorial Lecture (11 January, 1996)]
Against the trade unions
Changes to the power of the trade unions were made gradually, unlike the approach of the Heath Government, and the greatest single confrontation with the unions was the NUM strike of 1984 to 1985 in which the union eventually had to concede. Whether these confrontational tactics ultimately benefited Britain or not, they destroyed the post-war consensus of British politics. Thatcher's approach to industrial relations continued and accelerated the departure from the British tradition of 'voluntarism' (based on contract law), bringing more and more aspects of labour relations into the sphere of state regulation. This process has been continued under the New Labour government of Tony Blair, albeit with a different ideological underpinning.Europe
Towards the end of the 1980s Margaret Thatcher, and so Thatcherism, became increasingly stubborn in its opposition to perceived attempts by the European Union to erode British sovereignty. In the famous 1988 Bruges speech, Thatcher declared that "We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them reimposed at a European level, with a European superstate exercising a new dominance from Brussels." Nevertheless, it was under Thatcher's leadership that the UK signed up to the Single European Act.Thatcherism as a form of Government
Another important aspect of Thatcherism is the style of governance. Britain in the 1970s was often referred to as "ungovernable". Mrs Thatcher attempted to redress this by centralising a great deal of power to herself, as the Prime Minister, often bypassing traditional cabinet structures (such as cabinet committees). This personal approach also became identified with a certain toughness at times such as the Falklands War, the IRA bomb at the Conservative conference and the Miner's Strike.Sir Charles Powell, the Foreign Affairs Private Secretary to the Prime Minister (1984-91, 96) described her style thus, "I've always thought there was something Leninist about Mrs Thatcher which came through in the style of government - the absolute determination, the belief that there's a vanguard which is right and if you keep that small, tightly knit team together, they will drive things through... there's no doubt that in the 1980s, No. 10 could beat the bushes of Whitehall pretty violently. They could go out and really confront people, lay down the law, bully a bit".Peter Hennessy, The Prime Minister: The Office and its Holders since 1945 (Penguin, 2001), p. 397.
Dispute over the use and meaning of the term
The term "Thatcherism" was coined by one of her critics, the sociologist Stuart Hall.James Procter, Stuart Hall (Routledge, 2004), p. 98. However, not all social critics have accepted the term as valid, with the High Tory journalist T. E. Utley claiming that "There is no such thing as Thatcherism." T. E. Utley, 'Monstrous invention', The Spectator, 9 August 1986. Utley contended that the term was a creation of Mrs. Thatcher's enemies who wished to damage her by claiming that she had an inflexible devotion to a certain set of principles and also by some of her friends who, "for cultural and sometimes ethnic reasons, have little sympathy with the English political tradition." Thatcher was not an ideologue, Utley further argued, but a pragmatic politician; giving examples of her refusal to radically reform the welfare state and the need to avoid a miners' strike in 1981 before the Government was ready to handle it.The Conservative historian of Peterhouse College, Maurice Cowling, also questioned the uniqueness of "Thatcherism". Cowling claimed that Mrs. Thatcher used "radical variations on that patriotic conjunction of freedom, authority, inequality, individualism and average decency and respectability, which had been the Conservative Party's theme since at least 1886." Cowling further contended that the "Conservative Party under Mrs. Thatcher has used a radical rhetoric to give intellectual respectability to what the Conservative Party has always wanted."Maurice Cowling, Mill and Liberalism: Second Edition (Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. xxvii-xxviii.
Thatcher's legacy
The extent to which one can say 'Thatcherism' has a continuing influence on British political and economic life is unclear. In 2001 Peter Mandelson, a member of parliament belonging to the British Labour Party closely associated with Tony Blair, famously declared that "we are all Thatcherites now".Notes
Bibliography
- Andrew Gamble, The Free Economy and the Strong State: The Politics of Thatcherism (Palgrave Macmillan, 1994).
- Sir Ian Gilmour, Dancing with Dogma: Thatcherite Britain in the Eighties (Simon & Schuster, 1992).
- Stuart Hall and Martin Jacques (1983), The Politics of Thatcherism (London: Lawrence and Wishart).
- Bob Jessop et al (1988), Thatcherism: A Tale of Two Nations (Cambridge: Polity).
- Dennis Kavangh, Thatcherism and British Politics: The End of Consensus? (Oxford University Press, 1990).
- Shirley Robin Letwin, The Anatomy of Thatcherism (Flamingo, 1992).
- Kenneth Minogue and Michael Biddiss, Thatcherism: Personality and Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, 1987).
- Robert Skidelsky (ed.), Thatcherism (Blackwell, 1989).
- Peter Hennessy, 'The Prime Minister: The Job and Its Holders Since 1945' (Penguin Books, 2000)
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