What influence did Margaret Thatcher have on British politics? 9783656670377, 3656670374

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What influence did Margaret Thatcher have on British politics?
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History

Divine Swerwzie Agbleke

What influence did Margaret Thatcher have on British politics?

Seminar paper

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Divine Swerwzie Agbleke

What influence did Margaret Thatcher have on British politics?

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University of Flensburg International Institute of Management and Economic Literacy Department of European Studies

Term Paper

British Contemporary Politics, from 1940 to 1990 What influence did Margaret Thatcher have on (conservative) British politics? Divine Swerwzie Agbleke

Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1  2 Literature review .......................................................................................................................................... 2  2.1 Introductory background to British politics 1940 ‐ 1990 ............................................................ 2  2.1.1 Consensus politics 1940 – 1955 ...................................................................................... 2  2.1.2 Consensus politics endangered 1955 – 1979 ............................................................... 3  2.1.3 The Thatcher era 1979 – 1990 ........................................................................................ 4  2.2 Conservatism explained .................................................................................................................................. 4  3 Thatcherism ................................................................................................................................................... 6  3.1 Introductory political biography of Margaret Thatcher 1925 ‐ 2013 .................................... 6  3.2 Political and economic ideology ................................................................................................................. 6  4 Conservatism vs. Thatcherism in Contemporary British politics ............................................... 8  5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 10  6 References .................................................................................................................................................... 11 



1. Introduction The following term paper examines the extent to which Margate Thatcher’s term in office Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1979 to her forced resignation in 1990, affected (conservative) British politics. The motivation to write this paper stems from the rather divided opinion among the British and across the Globe on the news of the death of Margaret Thatcher in April of 2013. On the background of this, an examination of her role in and contribution to contemporary British politics has never been more pertinent. It may interest readers to note that this paper also analyses the period between 1940 and 1990. The objective of this is to compare and contrast wartime (conservative) British politics with the period under Thatcher, so as to identify and draw conclusions on some (if not all) of the unique characteristics that define the period preceding Thatcher’s rule. The following paper is divided into six chapters. After a brief introduction in chapter 1, an introductory review of literature on contemporary British politics will be presented in chapter 2, with an account of the three distinctive Politics that characterized the period between 1940 and 1990, followed by a brief presentation on Conservatism. Chapter 3 comprises an analysis of what has become known as Thatcherism and includes presentations on Margaret Thatcher as a person and of her political and economic ideals. Chapter 4 will offer some comparisons of the differences and similarities between Conservatism as an ideology and how it has been implemented under Thatcher, considering whether ‘Thatcherism’ exists as a pure political doctrine. Chapter 5 will present a conclusion on the findings from the topics covered in this paper and the final section 6 contains references. Due to the ten page limit on this term paper, an exhaustive analysis is unfortunately not possible. Beyond that the English language literature available in the library are not up to date. However, it is my conviction that Thatcher’s role of or contribution to British contemporary politics has been adequately expanded upon. 1   

 

2. Literature review 2.1 Introductory background to British politics 1940 ‐ 1990 Kavanagh (1990, p.244‐245) notes that, until 1979, the British political landscape was characterized by collectivism with greater roles for institutions and not persons. Kavanagh (1990) attributes this to the representative form of democracy being practised in Britain, as opposed to the presidential system in France and the US where personalities are of greater importance. Hence, British politics during the period under review can be divided into three phases that are considered in detail in the following subchapters. 2.1.1 Consensus politics 1940 – 1955 During this period, in which there was a wartime coalition government, followed by Labour then Conservative governments led by Attlee and Churchill, the foundation for Britain’s foreign and socio‐economic policy was laid (Coxall and Robins, 1994, p.19). On the international front, consensus building and cooperation characterized the polity with the aim of projecting Great Britain as an economic and military power of the world. The political agenda at the time was based on promoting strong economic and military ties with the US while at the same time developing the empire and building the Commonwealth. In an effort to counter obvious legitimate threats from the soviets, British foreign and military strategy involved participation in the building of intercontinental alliances, such as NATO, to defend Western Europe in the event of attack from the Soviets. (Ibid, pp.20‐21) Beyond this, large‐scale military expenditure and opposition to joining the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), for fear of loss of sovereignty, characterized British foreign and security policy at the time. (Ibid) On the domestic front, a tax‐financed welfare state, designed to include free national health insurance and family allowances amongst other provisions, was instituted. It must be noted that most (if not all) of the social policy decisions and measures introduced by

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the post war Labour government were not discontinued by a Conservative‐led government that followed. (Coxall and Robins, 1994, pp. 19, 24) 2.1.2 Consensus politics endangered 1955 – 1979 According to Coxall and Robins, (1994, pp.27‐28) British external relations during the period under review were more of a failure than a success. The period was marked by the succession of many of Britain’s foreign territories and by domestic economic challenges such as budget deficits that meant that it was no longer possible to aggressively advance its role as a super power. Britain’s position was also not helped by the effectiveness and efficiency of the EU (an organization to which it did not belong) compared with the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) (Britain was a member) and having to withdraw from the Suez Canal following external pressure. In addition, its quest to become a nuclear military power was not to be successful due to the collapse of military hardware agreements with the US. On the decline both economically and militarily, British external policy shifted towards Europe, but its first and second applications in 1963 and 1967 to join the European Economic Community (EEC) were rejected as a result of French opposition (Warlouzet, 2010, p.1). However, when the British finally joined in 1973, Coxall and Robins (1994, p. 29), note that they were not only one of the highest payers, but also received the lowest amount from the European Union (EU) due to their relatively small agriculture sector. On the domestic front, Coxall and Robins (1994, pp. 29‐30) note British politics was not much different to the first period under review, with sectors such as education and housing attracting the most financial and governmental support. It must be noted however that there were some differences in the form of implementation. Whereas the Conservatives favoured self‐ownership with regards to housing, Labour supported council housing projects. Also, some public organisation or sectors, such as road haulage and steel, which were nationalized under Labour, were then re‐privatized by the Conservative government. It can therefore be concluded that post war British politics, especially during the period under review, saw an inception of ideological politics based differences between the two main parties.

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2.1.3 The Thatcher era 1979 – 1990 According to Coxall and Robins (1994, p. 19‐20), the Thatcher years marked the collapse of the so‐called consensus‐driven British politics. It must be noted that the change of strategy by the then prime minister Mrs. Thatcher was a response to the somewhat deteriorating economic and global standing of Britain. As Coxall and Robins (1994) note, various economic experiments, such as imposing higher taxes to finance welfare, led to unrests as economic growth levels during the 1970s could not support this measure. Hence, the election of Thatcher and the so‐called radical change in politics and policy was seen by many as the consequence of the failures of the policies preceding 1979. On the international front, policy measures during the Thatcher era were partially aimed at repositioning Britain on the internal stage as both a military and economic power. In this regard, the foreign policy agenda was characterized by the revival of Britain’s relationship with the US, public and private stance against communism (the Soviets), and a stronger role for Britain in the European Community (now EU). As a consequence of this policy, it is not a surprise that Thatcher was ready and willing to quickly get involved in the Falklands War, which ended with victory for Britain. (Ibid, pp. 20, 21‐22) On the domestic front, fiscal and monetary policy changes which include lowering of taxes and pursuit of inflation targeting, replaced the use of monetary policy tools such as credit to promote higher employment. In addition, the welfare system also witnessed a renaissance. Labour’s ‘universal social security of all’ policy was to be replaced with a selective policy, with emphasis on individual responsibility. British citizens were encouraged to supplement their social security needs in the areas of health, pensions, and education from the market. (Ibid, pp.22, 23‐24)

2.2 Conservatism explained According to Festenstein and Kenny (2005, pp. 119‐120), there is a lack of consensus on whether conservative characteristics constitute a unique ideology. Whereas some see conservatism as an opposition to the ideals of rational liberal and social propositions, others take pride in it as being a rather pragmatic approach to the management of political and economic power that is derived from the beliefs and associations of society. 4   

 

Nonetheless, Festenstein and Kenny (2005) note that despite the lack of consensus amongst its followers, Conservatism has survived the test of time, adapting to the whims of modern societies, and has established a dominant role in politics and the economy. In addition to the above, conservatism can be framed by addressing the views of some of its proponents. Traditional proponents of the Ideals of Conservatism such as Burke (1790), propagate the predetermined relationship between the ruled and the rulers. Therefore, any attempt to break this bond of contract will disentangle how society is naturally stratified and how power is devolved. Moreover, Burke (1790) notes that rulers must be circumspect in the exercise of political power or the ruled may become disenchanted with the political model, the consequences of which could be as far reaching as the breakdown of societal order. It must be noted that these views were expressed by Burke in reaction to the French Revolution of 1789. (Festenstein and Kenny, 2005, pp. 120‐121) Additionally, the more rationalist conservatives like Oakeshott contend that modern politics should not be about continuity of generally accepted traditions and public policy, but rather the ability to break with past traditions when necessary so as to provide solutions to emerging problems at any particular point in time. (Ibid) Therefore, Conservatism should be dynamic in order to meet the test of time. According to Festenstein and Kenny (2005), the dynamism proposed by Oakeshott better explains the type of Conservative policy and politics of Britain between the 1950s and 1960s (Festenstein and Kenny, 2005, pp. 123‐124). However, the 1980s and 1990s witnessed a break with the past Conservative politics of the so‐called ‘middle way’ collectivism of the 1950s and 1960s, whereby a mixture of market and social economic policies were being implemented by successive Conservative governments, to more radical market economic ideals closer to those imported from the US, were championed by Margaret Thatcher. (Ibid, pp. 124‐125) Furthermore, Forman (1991, p.66), asserts that a typical difference between Conservative and other political ideals in British politics is that Conservative governments have a tendency to expedite action on political decision making and implementation. 5   

 

A more detailed analysis of Thatcher’s Conservative policy and politics is discussed in Chapter 3 of this paper.

3. Thatcherism 3.1 Introductory political biography of Margaret Thatcher 1925 ‐ 2013 Margaret Thatcher was a British politician who first represented Finchley as a member of parliament in 1959, going on to become Britain’s first female prime minister, leading the conservative government that won the 1979 general election. Her premiership ended in 1990 after she was forced into resignation by her own conservative party members. Kavanagh (1990) and Coxal and Robins (1994) argue that Mrs. Thatcher owes her political success to events preceding the 1979 elections. Among them are the political and ideological changes that she epitomized and the ‘Winter of Discontent’, characterised by industrial unrest in Britain, catapulted her and the conservatives to victory. (Coxal and Robins, 1994, p. 31; Kavanagh, 1990, p. 274) In addition to the above, Kavanagh (1990, pp. 243‐244, 273‐274) asserts that Thatcher’s political leadership style was more of leading, taking decisions and not being scared of the consequences, and above all ‘change the status quo’ as and when necessary. The above characteristic distinguished her from both wartime and post‐wartime Prime Ministers such as Churchill. As noted by Cordell (1992, pp.70‐71), the Conservative party in Britain is founded and thrives on the effective leadership of its leaders and party structures, and these were the characteristics that underlined Thatcher’s premiership.

3.2 Political and economic ideology “… you first sort out what you believe in. You then apply it. You don’t compromise on the things matter.” (Margret Thatcher, quoted by Coax and Robins, 1994, p.31) The above words of Thatcher, describe both her political and economic ideology as a person and as a conservative politician. Interestingly, Thatcher recalls that her character and belief in the ideals of conservatism or individual responsibility date back to lessons 6   

 

learnt from her father – Alderman Alfred Roberts (Coax and Robins, 1994, p.31). Furthermore, Kavanagh (1990, pp.243‐244) acknowledges that Baroness Thatcher’s influence on the everyday life of the British people stems from her successful departure from the so‐called consensus post‐war British politics, thereby earning her a ‘political doctrine’ – Thatcherism, conversant with her political panache. Furthermore, Kavanagh (1990, pp.245‐246), describes Baroness Thatcher as a confrontational politician, who trusts that policy making should be supported by the ideals that one believes in, and that such a principle was lacking in British politics at the time. He also notes that she exhibited a lot of admiration and support for risk takers such as entrepreneurs. However, Kavanagh (1990) concludes that the lack of understanding for the actions and or inactions of past governments by Thatcher relates to the fact that she had no personal memory of, or experience with, the devastating effects of the economic crises of the 1930s. Finally, one can sum up Baroness Thatcher’s ideology in her own words: “…Yes, I do believe certain things very strongly. Yes I do believe in trying to persuade people that the things I believe in are the things they should follow… I am far too old to change now.” (Margret Thatcher, 1983, quoted by Kavanagh 1990, p.248) Her belief in non‐compromise was quickly exhibited on the international arena, where Thatcher insisted on an equitable re‐distribution of contributions to the finances of the EU, opposed the institution of a federal political structure in Europe, and postponed Britain’s accession into the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), which would have meant loss of sovereignty and status of the British Pound as an independent freely convertible world currency. It must be noted that Britain eventually joined the ERM, a month before Thatcher’s forced resignation in November 1990 (Coax and Robins, 1994, p. 33). Nonetheless, Kavanagh (1990, p.249) implies that Baroness Thatcher’s non‐ compromising public political image was far from perfect. For instance, Britain agreed to transfer Hong Kong back to China during Thatcher’s rule and political pressure from within the Tories and other EU leaders led to her carving in and agreeing to the British membership of the ERM in 1989. It can be said that such events, especially the pressure

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she faced from within her own party at the end of the 1980s, marked her gradual loss of authority. It was of little surprise when she was forced to resign in 1990. The domestic economic arena also witnessed substantial policy changes that can be attributed to the political ideals of not compromising on what one believes in, championed by Thatcher. Not only was the government monetary intervention policy of credit financed support for the economy so as to promote employment at any cost reversed, cooperation with labour unions, government, and employers to manage industrial relations and incomes was also terminated. (Coax and Robins, 1994, p.34) concluded that such policy changes were aimed at transferring economic decision making from the state back to market actors. Kavanagh (1990, p.245), concludes that Thatcher sees these tasks as a duty of her course but also as a failure on the part of past governments, including those of Churchill (a Conservative like her), to take necessary steps. Yet again, surprisingly, the same conservative free market proponent – Thatcher – bailed out as many as 23 unprofitable coal pits that a conservative believer in the tenets of market forces would not have done, and refused to implement recommendations to reductions in welfare benefits and some privatization of the National Health Services, between 1981 and 1982. (Kavanagh, 1990, pp.249‐250)

4 Conservatism vs. Thatcherism in Contemporary British politics Kavanagh (1990, p.279), concludes that even though one can draw comparisons of the Thatcher years with the emergence of new political and economic dogmas such as the New Deal in the US in the 1930s and the collectivism politics of the post WWII British politics before 1979, the absence of a uniformed and consistent policy during the Thatcher years makes it difficult, if not impossible, to characterised Thatcher’s near three term premiership with a doctrine. However, Thatcher’s regime brought identifiable changes to both the Conservative party and British politics general. Kavanagh (1990, pp.280, 281‐282), describes the policy and political impact of Thatcher’s rule as divisive of both party and populace. The Conservative party was fragmented along support for or against Thatcher’s policies. Whereas some favoured a continuation of the old social and economic ‘consensus’ policies of predecessors, others, 8   

 

especially Thatcher’s supporters, favoured a more radical shift to monetarism, a paradigm based on inflation rather than employment, targeting, privatization of state‐ owned enterprises, and the promotion of law and order through tougher sanctioning as opposed to appeasement. Kavanagh (1990) notes further that critics of Thatcher reveal her bedevilling of some revelled ‘traditions’ and ‘institutions’ associated with conservative ideals makes her ‘not conservative enough’. Nonetheless, Bulpitt concludes that traditional policy and institutional areas such as defence, foreign affairs, and a strong and independent central government, that are characteristics of conservative polity, remained strong under Thatcher (Kavanagh, 1990, pp. 282‐286‐289). The impact of the Thatcher years on the populace led to civil strife and discontent, especially at local government levels where support for anti‐conservative policies such as the promotion of gay rights became the order of the day in some localities. (Kavanagh, 1990, p.287) In addition, Thatcher generally chalked some successes including a significant change in policy direction of the labour party to reflect changing needs and time. The Labour party by 1989 was a supporter of Britain’s membership of the EU, as well as for a free market economy with less state intervention and for policy change on the nationalization of state owned enterprises. These policy changes Kavanagh, 1990) notes are a result of an attempt to adjust to changes to public opinion. (Kavanagh, 1990, p.302) It must also be noted that even though monetary policy change was initially a success, by 1989, however, high inflation and high interest rates coupled with high levels of trade deficit changed tide in favour of the critics of Thatcherism as not being radical enough in its consolidation of fiscal and monetary policy, against the backdrop that public support was there for such policies. (Kavanagh, 1990, p.303)

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5. Conclusion This term paper assessed the role and contribution of the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – Margaret Thatcher, to contemporary British politics. The findings contained in chapter 2 on the background to British contemporary politics between 1940 and 1990 shows that the so‐called ‘consensus politics’ made it difficult, at least in terms of policy to effectively differentiate between the political and economic politics of successive Labour and the Conservatives governments before 1979. However, as noted by Coxall and Robins (1994) the emergence of Thatcher on the political scene marked a reversal of the consensus politics to a rather radical system of individualistic and market‐oriented brand of economic, social and political politics. Furthermore, it may interest readers to note that evidence from subchapter 2.2 and chapter 3, as detailed in chapter 4, paints a different picture as to whether Thatcher’s politics between 1979 and 1990 can be classified as an alternative to the ‘consensus politics for which she campaigned and won the general election. The reasons are that Thatcher primarily owes her election success to the deteriorating economic, social, and political fortune of preceding governments at the time. Therefore, there was a ‘consensus’ for change that she promised and successfully represented in her campaigns and premiership. In addition to that Kavanagh (1990) implies that, by agreeing to transfer Hong Kong to the Chinese and bailing‐out as many as 23 unprofitable coal pits clouds the perception of Thatcher as the non‐compromising market oriented conservative politician. Even so, comparing the period between 1940 ‐ 1979 and 1979‐1990, it can be concluded that Thatcher had a significant influence on contemporary British politics. There was not only radical social and economic changes on the domestic front, but also internationally, as countries such as Argentina witnessed the wrath of Thatcher’s authority with the British invasion of Falklands. Additionally, the biggest opposition party – Labour, also made some significant changes to their political ideology. Such changes as Kavanagh (1990) noted include the support for British membership of the EU and acceptance of (some) free market tenets as introduced by the Thatcher‐led government.

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6. References Cordell, J., 1992. Essential government and politics. The Collins guide to success. 2nd ed. London: Collins Educational Ltd. Coxall, B. and Robins, L., 1994. Contemporary British politics. 2nd. Hampshire: Macmillan Press Ltd. Festenstein, M. and Kenny, M., 2005. Political ideologies ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Forman, F. N., 1991. Mastering British politics. Macmillan Master Series. 2nd ed. China: The Macmillan Press Ltd. Kavanagh, D., 1990. Thatcherism and British politics: The end of consensus? 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Warlouzet, L., 2010. Charles de Gaulle’s idea of Europe. The lasting legacy. In: Kontur. nr. 19 ‐ 2010. [Online] Available at: http://www.hum.au.dk/cek/kontur/pdf/kontur_19/04%20Warlouzet.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2014].

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