In what ways, if any, do the UK's major political parties of today reflect political ideologies? Discuss this essay question in relation to liberalism and one other political theory.'

Conor Newman (January 2008)

Plan

-What are the main ideologies?

-Post-war consensus

-Modern conservative party-thatcherism and classical liberalism

-Labour party: ‘old’ labour-much more socialist; new labour-social democrat or classical liberal?

Introduction

In this essay I shall be arguing that today’s political parties are reluctant to place themselves on the Political spectrum, and so it cannot truly be said that any of either the Labour or Conservative parties truly follow just one ideology. However, they definitely are affected by and do reflect a mixture of various ideologies.

Ideologies

An ideology is a set of firm beliefs that can encompass a range of things, including social, political and economic principles. Every person will have a different outlook on life, society, the economy, politics, and other important matters. These beliefs can arise from family background, personal experiences, or, as Marxists argue, through a person’s economic status. A typical ideology will have a specific viewpoint on human nature and society, and will also cover ways in which society can be improved or ways in which the economy and the government should work. Many, but not all, debates in politics arise because of ideological differences; one person will have a very different outlook on life to another, and this will inevitably lead to some form of debate. Therefore, people with likeminded beliefs will band together to form political parties, and these political parties will often reflect a single ideology. However, as we shall see, contemporary political parties often inhabit a ‘grey area’ in terms of ideology.

In UK politics, there have been several prominent ideologies. Conservatism is an ideology that has a positive outlook on the state, seeing it as necessary to maintain control and order in society. They believe in limited intervention by the state, although basic services must be provided for. Their main belief is that change should be evolutionary, slow, and natural, and that radical change is incredibly dangerous and often unnecessary. The conservative view on human nature is that people are often irrational, capable of evil, and are incredibly unpredictable. Because of this unpredictability, change could have terrible effects, so it is better to stick to the tried and tested rather than try new, radical, and potentially dangerous ideas.

Liberalism is an ideology that believes that humans are rational individuals that can think for themselves and so need very little intervention from the state. Classical liberals believe that individuals should be free to do as they wish, unless they are harming other people. New liberals believe that sometimes it is impossible for people to experience freedom if they do not receive some help from the state, and so they have a much more positive outlook on state intervention. The new liberal ideology can be seen as very similar to that of social democracy, which is a type of socialism. They believe in some state ownership for basic utilities, and that the welfare state is necessary. Neo-liberalism is a return to the ideals of classical liberalism, with little or no state intervention in matters.

Socialism is an ideology that can take many different forms. Radical socialists, or Marxists, believe that history is broken down into epochs, with the end of each epoch being marked by a revolution. Marxists believe that the state should be abolished and that instead everyone should work together as equals in a community. They believe in the equal distribution of wealth and the abolition of the class system and capitalism. More moderate socialists believe that the state is a necessary evil, while social democrats see it as the key to creating social justice. In general, socialists represent the views of the working class, and their main aim is to control the means of production in the interests of the workers rather than the bourgeoisie. They also believe that human beings are not individuals but are communities that should co-operate and work together.

Before the majority had the vote, the two main parties were the Conservatives and the Liberals, each one representing their respective ideologies. In the early 20^th century, the Liberal Party became new liberal in order to stop the socialist worker’s party, the Labour Party, from gaining power. Eventually, the Labour Party overtook the Liberal Party as one of the two major parties in UK Politics. After World War 2, each of these three parties generally agreed in terms of ideology, because they were all focused on stabilising and rebuilding the UK after the war. Traditional conservatives, new liberals and social democrats all broadly agreed on what needed to be done, and this led to the post-war consensus. In the 1970s, this consensus broke down as inflation spiralled out of control and oil prices soared. Neither Labour nor the Conservatives could solve the crisis, and this led to alternative ideologies emerging to combat the crisis.

Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives

In 1975, Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party and began to steer it towards what many have dubbed ‘Thatcherism’. Margaret Thatcher believed in radical change, individuality, and a strong Government that enforces the law, rather than interfering in the economy. She was also opposed to the welfare state. In many ways, her ideology was broadly similar to classical liberalism, and many theorists see her ideology as neo-liberalism. Under her rule, the Conservatives were no longer truly conservative, as conservatives are usually opposed to too much individualism and liberty, and definitely do not want radical change. However, in terms of morality they remained staunchly conservative, believing strongly in the family and in law and order. It can be said then that the Conservative Party had become economically liberal but morally conservative.

The Modern Conservative Party

This Classical liberal ideology is still prevalent in today’s Conservative Party. Consecutive leaders after Thatcher have all stayed relatively true to her reforms of the party and its ideology, believing in economic classical liberalism. However, in recent times they have struggled to get their message across as supposedly they are liberals, and yet are often against homosexuality, drugs and immigration-ideas which are much more right wing and against the very principles of Liberalism. This has led to a decline in their support, as people do not know what ideology the Conservatives are trying to represent, as some of their ideas seem to conflict with each other. In this way, it could be said that the Conservative Party do not reflect a specific ideology because they are often seen as a confusing amalgamation of several with no real, specific ideological status. It would be wrong to describe them as a conservative party, as they are in favour of change, but it would also be wrong to label them as a classical liberal party as they are essentially opposed to too much freedom of the individual.

Recent Developments in the Conservative Party

Under their new leader, David Cameron, the Conservatives seem to have moved more right wing. Some of their main policies include creating more law and order, cracking down on immigration by bringing in Border police, and stopping people claiming too many welfare benefits if they are able to work. All of these policies are much less liberal and more conservative, showing that perhaps the Conservative Party are shifting to the right under David Cameron. However, it is still laden with neo-liberalist views, such as increasing choice and opportunities for the individual and cuts in Government spending. Therefore, it cannot truly be said that the Conservative Party follow a conservative ideology, nor do they follow a liberal ideology. They are an interesting mixture of neo-liberal economic policies, combined with moral and social conservatism. This makes them hard to place on any political spectrum, and thus it cannot be said that they really reflect any specific ideology.

‘Old’ Labour

Prior to Tony Blair’s electoral success of 1997, the Labour Party were torn by ideological strife, with two main factions emerging. On the one side were the socialists, who wanted to turn Labour into a fully-fledged socialist party, while others, the Social Democrats, who wanted to move the party into the centre ground. The main problem was that this ideological strife made the party seem weak and resulted in a lot of election failures. The Labour Party did not really have an ideological stance at this time, with some leaders favouring socialism, while others favouring a social democrat approach. The main problem was that this haphazard ideology and constant struggle for power made the party seem virtually unelectable to the populace. Many argued that the Labour Party talked like socialists, but acted like social democrats, and after many of these unhappy social democrats left to form the SDP in 1981, it became clear that the Labour Party had to break away from socialism and carve out for themselves a strong ideological stance.

New Labour

Neil Kinnock began the transition from old to new Labour by destroying the power of the radical socialist elements of the party, although neither he nor his successor, John Smith, reaped the rewards of their modernisation of the party. The next leader, Tony Blair, completed the transition. He decisively got rid of clause IV of the Labour pledges, which meant that Labour no longer had a commitment to nationalisation of industry-almost all elements of the old socialist Labour Party had now gone. It was left to Tony Blair to create the ‘Third Way’, which was the name of Tony Blair and his supporter’s new ideology for the party. On closer inspection, this “ideology” is not really one at all, as it has no specific view on human nature or society. Blair’s main policies were a private/public mix for industry as well as believing that employment is a greater evil than inflation-opposing the traditional Labour Party’s views. In fact, it can be said that Tony Blair’s third way is nothing more than a mixture between neo-liberalism and social democracy with a different label. Tony Blair has admitted to being a supporter of Margaret Thatcher, and so it could be argued that “Thatcherism” is still prevalent in Government, even though it is the Labour Party that are in power! However, the fact that the “Third Way” is not really an ideology, and also that Tony Blair refuses to admit what ideology he truly believes in, shows that contemporary parties are often reluctant to follow a specific ideology, perhaps because of the stigma attached to them, and also because of the many ideological changes that have occurred within the parties over the years. If Tony Blair was to admit, for example, that he is a Social Democrat, this would put him in the same category as ‘old’ Labour, thus ruining any claims of his party being a ‘new’ Labour.

Modern Labour Party

Under the leadership of Gordon Brown, the Labour Party has abandoned its ‘New Labour’ title, fuelling the idea that it was merely a ploy to win votes by showing the party has being something different, when really it was very similar to Thatcherism. It also seems that Gordon Brown is much more of a social democrat than Tony Blair, which is shown by his cabinet’s reluctance to nationalise the troubled bank Northern Rock. Clearly, the Labour Party can be described as a social democratic or even neo-liberal party in contemporary politics. This is, in fact, broadly similar to the Conservative party’s neo-liberalism, although not so extreme. It could then, be argued that there is a new liberal consensus, with both of the major parties generally agreeing in terms of ideology. This could almost make speaking of the major parties in terms of ideology as negligible because they both broadly agree in most areas, with only differences in specific policies and image being the deciding factors at elections.

Liberal Democrats

In terms of ideology, the Liberal democrats have probably been the most consistent for most of the late-20^th Century. They have stayed new liberal, meaning that the merger between them and the Social Democrat Party was an easy transition. They have definitely stuck to their ideological principles much more so than the other two main parties, although this has not led to much electoral success. This is in contrast to the other two parties, who have been inconsistent and unclear on their ideology but have had much electoral success. This is mostly down to the flaws in the First-Past-The-Post system in its discrimination of third parties. The Liberal Democrats are the only party whose ideology is relatively clear; in fact, it is quite obvious, seeing as it is the name of the party! Conversely, the Conservative Party are only really conservative in name, and the Labour Party are no longer socialist and no longer really represent the working class. The differences between all three parties are marginal, with the Conservatives focusing mostly on law and order, the LibDems focusing on the Environment and individual freedoms, and the Labour Party focusing on public/private mix in terms of industry.

Conclusion

Overall then, neither of the two major political parties are particularly ideological. The Conservative Party still follow the neo-liberalism of Thatcher quite closely, although in terms of morals they are much more conservative, making them difficult to place on the political spectrum. Conversely, the Labour Party follow the ‘Third Way’, and explaining this in terms of ideology is also difficult. It is best described as social democracy, although many could argue that it is bordering on neo-liberalism. The Liberal Democrats have been most consistent, following a new liberal ideology. However, neither of the two main parties completely reflect specific ideologies, because most of their policies are a mixture of several different ones. Ideology is present in political parties, but it is usually discussed in terms of policy rather than specific ideologies.