Abstract
In his foreword to a seminal collection of essays edited by Zig Layton-Henry in 1980, the former Conservative MP Ian Gilmour remarked that, ‘The British Conservative Party is a very peculiar institution and British Conservatism is scarcely less distinctive’ (Layton-Henry, 1980: xi). In the 30 years or so since that book was written, academic interest in the Conservative Party has grown steadily. Thanks to a number of studies, more scholarly light has been shone on the ‘peculiar institution’ than ever before, particularly in the context of the rise of Thatcherism and the subsequent demise of the Conservative Party as an electoral force during the years of New Labour. Questions that grabbed scholarly attention during these periods – such as what made the Conservative Party the most electorally successful party in Europe in the twentieth century, but also why, after the defeat at the UK general election in 1997, it took so long for the Conservatives to recover? – have now been replaced by a focus on the Conservatives under Cameron and more recently on the transition to coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. It is the latter issue which this collection of essays addresses.
The introductory and concluding chapters by Heppell and Seawright are very strong. The introduction outlines persuasively the analytical framework of the book – an important task in an edited collection and one which is executed by the authors with great clarity, thought and coherence. The influential ‘statecraft’ thesis first explored and considered by the late Jim Bulpitt (1986) provides the overarching analytical lens through which the chapters of the book are organized. Each of the book’s 16 chapters is fitted within one of the five dimensions of statecraft analysis: successful party management, a winning electoral strategy, political argument hegemony, governing competence and then another winning electoral strategy (p. 2). Their conclusion is equally lucid, offering a number of interpretations through which the Conservative’s transition from opposition to coalition government might be viewed.
Of particular interest to readers of party politics will be two chapters at the beginning of the book exploring: the Conservatives and the electorate by Denver, and on understanding the process of Conservative modernization by Byrne, Foster and Kerr. In more concrete policy terms there are very strong chapters by Bale and Hampshire on immigration, by Hayton on social policy, and by Gamble on economic policy. Furthermore, Cameron’s preferred label of political and ideological self-description, ‘liberal conservatism’, is also considered in this volume, partly in the chapter on foreign policy and more substantially in McAnulla’s chapter assessing its ideological coherence.
Hayton’s chapter is particularly illuminating for those interested in the post-Thatcherite ideological trajectory of Conservative social policy in light of Cameron’s ‘Broken Britain’ and ‘Big Society’ narratives. Building on the platform of some of his other scholarship (Hayton and Heppell, 2010), Hayton highlights the significance of the work carried out by Iain Duncan Smith as party leader on public services and social justice as an important influence on Cameron’s Big Society narrative. Furthermore, he also highlights the influence of the think tank that he created, the Centre for Social Justice, and the report of the Social Justice Policy Group, one of six policy review groups Cameron established upon becoming leader. Ultimately, for Hayton the Big Society narrative can be located within the government’s overarching neo-Thatcherite commitment to a smaller state, less intervention and lower taxes. Scepticism of Cameron’s Big Society narrative is characteristic of many of the chapters contained in this collection. Leaving aside the lack of philosophical and practical clarity associated with the idea of the Big Society, of central concern to the scholarly contributions in this volume is the extent to which Cameron’s Big Society narrative is a clever cover for the politics of austerity and the advancement of a neo-Thatcherite social and economic agenda. According to Heppell and Seawright, as the next election approaches, ‘how the big society becomes viewed by the electorate will be critical to the credibility of the Conservatives’ (p. 228). The conclusions that the electorate come to, ultimately, about the Big Society will depend primarily on the extent to which the coalition meets its stated aim of reducing the structural deficit by the time of the next general election. To a lesser extent it depends upon Cameron’s personal commitment to the idea. Was it merely an exercise in political marketing – an expendable political slogan deployed during the cycle of an election campaign? Or did it represent a genuine attempt to reconfigure the relationships between the state, civil society and the individual in recognition of the fact that postmodernism and the neo-liberal economic paradigm have bequeathed a damaging legacy of fragmented communities, isolated individuals and less social cohesion across Britain?
Given some of the robust debates and disagreements that have taken place between the coalition partners on constitutional issues such as the voting system, human rights and House of Lords reform, it is disappointing that there is not a separate chapter on constitutional issues. Overall, however, this collection of essays is a timely, scholarly and insightful examination of the first year of the Cameron-led coalition that makes a significant contribution to the existing literature on the Conservative Party and will be of lasting significance to scholars examining this period in its history.