In recent years, many British politicians have thrown around the term “One Nation Conservatism”. Many have since called themselves “One Nation Conservatives”, but few really understand what the term means.
Current Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and his predecessor, Theresa May both threw around the term during the General Elections. Similarly both claiming to be one nation conservatives, but is that truly the case?
What is One Nation Conservatism?
One nation conservatism (sometimes written as one-nation conservatism) is a type of conservatism that emphasises social reform with the intention of keeping the union together.
It was first coined by MP (and later Prime Minister) Benjamin Disraeli in his books Coningsby and Sybil. He saw a nation divided in two- one rich and one poor. He saw that if conservatives didn’t do anything, one nation would become two.
The defining philosophy behind one-nation conservatism is that those who are wealthy and privileged should pass on their wealth to those who aren’t. This isn’t for some “selfless” reason, but in order to keep social stability.
Part of Disraeli’s philosophy was also based around the fact that there should be a rigid social structure to provide the people with a sense of normalcy whilst also acting in the best interest of the people.
This is such an integral part of one-nation conservatism, that their followers will put the interests of the people before the interests of corporations and billionaires, refusing to allow their money to “corrupt” politics.
Recent years have seen the term analysed and compared, mostly to Thatcherism of the 1970’s (which some claim to be a more conservative variant of one nation conservatism!)
Economic Views
Since the beginning of one-nation conservatism, their economic views have changed somewhat, but have stayed true to Disraeli’s writings.
Disraeli wrote that it was the duty of conservatives to try to prevent a great disparity in income as seen during the Gilded Age. Disraeli continued, stating that it was the job of conservatives to pay workers more and provide them with better housing.
Continuing on, many modern-day one-nation conservatives believe that the UK being a welfare state is integral to the continuing unity of the country. Following on from this, they believe that welfare should never be restricted, only ever expanded.
One-nation conservatives also pride themselves on being the ones who helped implement other social securities such as maternity pay, sick pay and old age pensions among others.
Social Views
Unlike their economic views, most of their social views haven’t changed much since Disraeli wrote them. Similarly to their economic views, their social views are truly more liberal than conservative.
Disraeli argued that in order to keep the UK as one cohesive country, they needed to implement new social reforms to help. Most notably, these have been to do with education and healthcare.
During the 1920’s in particular, one nation conservatives began to enact new social reforms that focused specifically on housing. Through these reforms, things such as back-to-back housing became illegal.
Trade Unions also prospered under one-nation conservatism. Unlike other types of conservatives, one nation conservatives encouraged trade unions and also helped them gain a large membership.
Origins
One-nation conservatism originates with then-Conservative Member of Parliament Benjamin Disraeli. At the time, Disraeli’s opinions were seen as very radical, not only by the Conservative Party, but by many Whigs too.
Disraeli released two books outlining what would later go on to become one nation conservatism (sometimes spelled one-nation conservatism as well). Both of these books have since gone on to become some of the best conservative books.
The first book, Coningsby, was published in 1844 and outlined the social views of one nation conservatism. The second book, Sybil, was published a year later in 1845 and outlined the economic views.
He published these books in the hopes of changing conservative attitudes, from unrestricted capitalism and free trade, to a more paternalistic view. This was done in the hopes of curbing communism and gaining working-class votes.
In 1868, Disraeli became the leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister. He also served as Prime Minister between 1874 and 1880. Here, he placed an emphasis on one-nation conservatism.
By 1874, whilst not liked by all of Britain’s industrial elite, it was tolerated. This is mostly due to it being less radical than what socialists and communists wanted. It was similarly liked by the British working classes too.
The Height
After Disraeli’s premiership was over, one-nation conservatism stayed as the Conservative Party’s principle philosophy. However, by the 1890’s, most conservatives had shifted their views from Disraeli’s philosophy.
For almost 40 years, nobody talked about one-nation conservatism, with even less claiming to be one. Then, the Great Depression in the 1930’s saw a spike in one nation conservatives, fueled mostly by the rise in communism.
Many conservative politicians realised that the average worker was underpaid and dissatisfied with the status quo, with many of them turning to communism. In order to prevent a communist revolution, conservatives began offering more social reforms.
Prime Ministers such as Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain were elected in part to their one nation conservatism. With this, saw the Labour Party delve deeper into socialism, resulting in reforms such as the NHS.
The famous Winston Churchill was similarly a one nation conservative (although did have several non-one nation conservative views too). For the next 20 years, one nation conservatism was the Conservative Party’s main philosophy.
Between 1951 and 1964, four Conservative MPs would become Prime Minister, all due to their one nation conservatism philosophy. Several Conservative MPs would also be PM in the 1970’s too.
The “Resurgence”
In the 1970’s, the New Right, led by Margaret Thatcher took one nation conservatism and altered it immensely. This was to the point where many have said they were not one-nation conservatives.
For many economic aspects of one-nation conservatism, Thatcher completely threw them out. Instead of implementing higher taxes on corporations, and privatising many of them, she did the opposite.
Companies such as British Airways, BT, British Gas, British Rail and British Steel, all owe their private ownership to Thatcher’s new “take” of one-nation conservatism.
However, it is Thatcher’s social reforms that lead to many saying she had hints of one-nation conservatism. Thatcher was very adamant on keeping a rigid social structure, even attempting to increase the House of Lords’ power.
One several other occasions, Thatcher implemented social reforms that helped the poorest members of society. This wasn’t done for her political base, but for the sake of social stability, which originally motivated Disraeli.
Thatcher, as well as other Tory MPs of the era, were remembered for privatising as many state-owned enterprises as possible. However, Thatcher did draw a line. If a state-owned business would become too predatory, Thatcher wouldn’t privatise them!
Today
Recent years have similarly seen a resurgence in one-nation conservatism. just as with the previous resurgence in one-nation conservatism, it has been inspired by Disraeli’s writings, not an exact replication of his writing.
During the 2010 General Election, following the Great Recession of 2007/08, then-leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron proposed what he called “One World Conservatism”, based on Disraeli’s writings.
This was later implemented after the Conservative Party’s success in the 2010 General Election. Although, this so-called “One World Conservatism” was adjusted to suit the Lib Dems who had formed a coalition government with the Tories.
Later that same year, former-Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, laid out his political philosophy. Although he did not expressly call it one-nation or one world conservatism, it did resemble it a great deal.
Many other Tory MPs have since said that they are one-nation or one world conservatives. This culminated in 2016 when the newly-appointed Prime Minister, Theresa May, said that she’d be forming a Tory government inspired by Disraeli.
In March 2019, the term “One nation conservatism” was again brought into the public eye when a group of 40 Tory MPs established the One-Nation Conservative Caucus in Parliament.
What do you think of one nation conservatism? Tell me in the comments!
Photo courtesy of Number 10 via Flickr.