One Nation Conservatism - History

History

Benjamin Disraeli adopted one nation conservatism for both ethical and electoral reasons. Before he became leader of the Conservative Party, Disraeli had announced that, as a result of the Reform Act of 1867 which had enfranchised the male working class, the party needed to pursue social reforms if it was to have electoral success. One nationism would both improve the conditions of the poor and portray the Whig Party as selfish individualists. Because the party portrayed itself as a national (and not class based) party, its members were unsure whether to make specific appeals to the working classes. A more positive approach to the working class by the party developed later out of the electoral necessity to secure working class votes.

While in government, Disraeli presided over a series of social reforms which supported his one nation politics and aimed to create a benevolent hierarchy. He appointed a Royal Commission to assess the state of law between employers and employees, the result of which prompted Richard Cross to pass of the Employers and Workmen Act of 1875. This act made both sides of industry equal before the law and the breach of contact a civil offence, rather than criminal. Cross also passed the Conspiracy, and Protection of Property Act in the same year which enshrined the right to strike of workers by ensuring that acts carried out by a workers' group could not be indicted as conspiracy.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the Conservatives had moved away from their one nation ideology and were increasingly supportive of capitalism and free enterprise. During the interwar period, public fear of extremist ideologies (communism and Fascism) restored the Conservative Party to one nationism as it defined itself as the party of national unity and began to support moderate reform. As the effects of the Great Depression were felt in Britain, the party was drawn to even greater levels of state intervention. The Conservative Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain and Stanley Baldwin pursued an interventionist style of conservatism which won them democratic support because of its wide electoral appeal. Throughout the post-war consensus of the 1950s and 60s, the Conservative Party was dominated by one nation conservatives whose ideas were inspired by Disraeli. The social and economic policies of the consensus appealed to the paternalism of one nation conservatism because they appeared to provide prosperity and alleviate social problems such as poverty and disease; this was intellectually developed by the 'new conservatism' movement, led by Rab Butler. New conservatism attempted to distinguish itself from the socialism of Anthony Crosland by concentrating welfare on those in need and encouraging people to help themselves, rather than foster dependency on the state.

Until the mid-1970s, the Conservative Party was mostly controlled by one nation conservatives. The rise of the New Right in conservative politics led to a critique of one nation conservatism which contended that Keynesian economics and welfarism had damaged the economy and society. The Winter of Discontent of 1978–79 was portrayed by the New Right as illustrative of the overextension of the state. Figures such as Margaret Thatcher believed that to reverse the national decline, it was necessary to revive old values of individualism and challenge the dependency culture created by the welfare state.

The Conservative Party's 2010 manifesto contained a section on "One World Conservatism"—a commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on well-targeted aid—and David Cameron, the current leader of the party and British Prime Minister, named Disraeli as his favourite Conservative. In 2006, Conservative Member of Parliament Andrew Tyrie published a pamphlet which claimed that Cameron was following the one nationist path of Disraeli. Phillip Blond, a British political theorist who has had past connections with the Conservative Party, has proposed a renewed version of one nation conservatism.

London Mayor Boris Johnson explained his political philosophy in 2010:

"I’m a one-nation Tory. There is a duty on the part of the rich to the poor and to the needy, but you are not going to help people express that duty and satisfy it if you punish them fiscally so viciously that they leave this city and this country. I want London to be a competitive, dynamic place to come to work."